Privacy coins are the only large crypto sector still above its level from the day bitcoin peaked. Glassnode data published on September 7 and analyzed by Bitfinex on September 11 shows the category has gained 213 percent since bitcoin’s record close above $126,000 on October 6, 2025. Over the past year, the sector’s combined market value rose from $7.1 billion to $33.6 billion.
Among the 25 largest crypto assets, only four traded above their October 6 levels: zcash, Hyperliquid’s HYPE, monero and WhiteBIT’s WBT. Every other major coin, including bitcoin and ether, remains below where it stood the day the broader market topped. BeInCrypto’s own screen found just 9 percent of the top 200 coins above that October level, and only three of the top 20 altcoins within 36 percent of their records.
Zcash leads, and it is not close
ZEC accounted for about 62 percent of the privacy sector’s value in Glassnode’s September 7 snapshot and delivered the largest gain in the group. The token rose more than 25-fold over the past year, pushing its market cap ranking from 82nd to seventh in Glassnode’s tally. It crossed $1,000 for the first time in nearly a decade on September 4 and traded near $1,185 this week, with the Grayscale Zcash ETF reporting $463.2 million in net assets as of September 4.
The rally has not been one-way. ZEC fell roughly 10 percent from its new high within days, and short sellers on Hyperliquid have absorbed heavy unrealized losses, with one trader’s position down more than $21 million before liquidation. That leverage dynamic has amplified moves in both directions, which is typical of a trade that has become crowded fast.
Institutional doors opened first
Two access events did most of the work. On August 25, Grayscale converted its existing Zcash trust into an exchange-traded product listed on NYSE Arca under ticker ZCSH, the first spot exposure to a privacy coin on a US exchange. The fund is not registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, and a September 8 SEC filing disclosed that DCG International Investments, a Digital Currency Group subsidiary affiliated with the sponsor, acquired roughly $100 million of ZCSH shares in exchange for 85,705 ZEC. Before that, in May, Multicoin Capital disclosed a position, and in January the SEC closed its probe into the Zcash Foundation without enforcement action.
Monero took a different route. THORChain version 3.20 added native XMR swaps, letting users trade monero against bitcoin or ether directly through the protocol’s cross-chain infrastructure. XMR gained about 40 percent in August and roughly doubled over the year, breaking its own price record back in January before the latest leg. Dash, the third of the older privacy names, has trailed both.
Glassnode’s privacy basket excluding ZEC gained about 85 percent during the past year, which reduces the argument that one token’s quirks explain the whole category’s performance.
| Asset | 1-year move | Access event | Status vs Oct 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zcash (ZEC) | Over +2,400% | Grayscale ZCSH ETF, Aug 25 | Above Oct 6 level |
| Monero (XMR) | Roughly 2x | THORChain v3.20 native swaps | Above Oct 6 level |
| Bitcoin (BTC) | About -33% | Existing spot ETFs | Below Oct 6 level |
Why privacy, why now
Three forces line up. First, there is the float. Roughly 30 percent of total ZEC supply sits inside the network’s shielded pools, tightening effective supply while ETF demand adds a steady bid. Second, the Ironwood upgrade on July 28 replaced the vulnerable Orchard pool and moved the network to the Zebra node client, a technical reset that removed a known security overhang and gave the rally a fundamental hook beyond price momentum. Third, the macro picture turned hostile for risk assets generally: the 10-year Treasury yield touched 5.04 percent this week, its highest since 2007, and a Fed rate hike is due Wednesday afternoon. In that environment, money rotates into whatever still shows relative strength, and right now that is privacy.
Bitcoin whales noticed early. Investor Dan Held said publicly that longtime bitcoin holders urged him to buy ZEC months ago, with accumulation targeted between $100 and $400, well before the breakout. Whether that anecdote matters less than the ETF flows is a fair question, but it tracks with the pattern: smart-money accumulation preceded the institutional access event, not the other way around.
The regulatory problem has not gone away
The regulatory backdrop cuts against the trade. Around ten jurisdictions already ban privacy coin trading on regulated exchanges, and the OECD’s Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework takes effect in 2026, tightening tax transparency obligations for exchanges and service providers. Grayscale listing a Zcash product in the US sits in tension with that trajectory, and it is not yet clear which force wins. Europe’s MiCA regime has already pressured several exchanges to delist privacy tokens for EU users, and US legislators have periodically revived talk of restrictions on anonymity-enhanced assets.
What is clear is the rotation itself. With most of the top 200 below their October levels and only a handful of sectors holding gains, traders looking for anything working have found privacy. Whether that interest survives a Fed hike and a potential CLARITY Act revote this week is the near-term test. ZEC’s own history argues for caution: the token has rallied hard before, in 2016 and 2021, and given most of it back both times. The difference this time is the ETF wrapper, which makes exits slower as well as entries easier.