Santiment Names Privacy Coins a Defining Trend. Zcash Is Up 741% in a Year and Monero 77% While Bitcoin Fell 30%.
Privacy coins are quietly outpacing every major cryptocurrency while Bitcoin stumbles, and Santiment says this is no accident. The question is whether this signals a lasting shift in crypto or something far more fragile.
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Zcash (CRYPTO:ZEC) has soared 741% over the past year, while Monero (CRYPTO:XMR) has climbed 77%. In contrast, Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) has fallen by 30%. These numbers highlight the significant rise of privacy coins amidst a broader downturn in major cryptocurrencies. According to Santiment’s recent market report, breakouts in privacy coins are among the key trends from the past month, alongside increased demand for ETFs and institutional investments.
Bitcoin’s Public Ledger Shows Every Payment, While Privacy Coins Hide Them
Many newcomers to cryptocurrency mistakenly believe that all digital currencies are anonymous. In reality, Bitcoin’s public ledger records every transaction for anyone to see. This means that anyone can trace the amounts and addresses involved in each transaction.
While Bitcoin addresses may look like random strings of letters and numbers, if one is linked to an identifiable source, such as an exchange account or a donation, every transaction made from that address becomes transparent, including the holder’s overall balance.
On the other hand, privacy coins hide transaction details through cryptography. Monero automatically keeps this information hidden in every transfer, whereas Zcash allows users to choose between transparent and shielded transactions. This privacy feature protects users’ financial details from potential scammers but also makes transactions harder for regulators to trace, prompting closer scrutiny of these coins than Bitcoin and others like Solana (CRYPTO:SOL).
Zcash and Monero Rose While Every Major Coin Fell
While major coins fell 30% to 49% over the past year, Zcash and Monero bucked the trend and gained significantly.
Currently, Zcash trades at $1,367, with a market cap of $23.2 billion, making it the 10th-largest cryptocurrency. Monero is priced at $563, with a market cap of $10.6 billion. In comparison, Bitcoin’s value stands at $1.73 trillion, meaning the combined market value of these two privacy coins is around 2% of Bitcoin’s worth.
Zcash Drives the Privacy Coin Rally
While both coins gained, Zcash is the primary driver of the current rally. Its staggering 741% increase far outpaces Monero’s 77%. Without Zcash’s performance, only one privacy coin is seeing significant growth in an otherwise weak market.
Both Zcash and Monero are still trading below their all-time highs. Zcash is currently 57% below its peak of about $3,192, recorded in October 2016, and has fallen 15% since it briefly crossed $1,600 in late September. Monero is about 30% below its record high near $798, meaning buyers who bought near those peaks may still be facing losses.
In the short term, price movements have also varied: Zcash has dropped 2.5% over the past week, while Monero has gained 4.3%. Additionally, Bitcoin’s 8% gain over the past month surpassed Monero’s 3%, indicating a more favorable performance for Bitcoin in that period. This raises the question of whether buyers are drawn to these coins’ privacy features or simply chasing Zcash’s impressive gains.
Are Privacy Coins Here to Stay, or Is It Just a Zcash Surge?
The 12-month performance of privacy coins, set against a backdrop of declining major cryptocurrencies, supports Santiment’s call. However, this rally appears to be more about Zcash’s growth, with Monero providing some additional momentum. Investors should also be aware of the regulatory risks privacy coins may face, which major cryptocurrencies do not face to the same extent. A significant regulatory announcement could impact both privacy coins simultaneously.
If Bitcoin continues to rise in the coming months and privacy coins lag behind, or if they trend in opposite directions, the sustainability of this trend may be in question. Conversely, if both privacy coins maintain their gains while major cryptocurrencies recover, it could indicate a more lasting shift. For now, privacy coins seem to represent a significant trend, though one largely driven by Zcash.
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Sam Daodu is a crypto analyst who's spent nearly a decade making blockchain understandable—no easy task when most whitepapers read like fever dreams. He writes for 24/7 Wall St., covering Bitcoin, altcoins, and crypto market analysis for investors. Before crypto, he was a tech writer (back when explaining "the cloud" was peak innovation). Since 2018, he's written for CoinTelegraph, Yahoo Finance, The Block, Cryptonews, Zypto, Rain, and more—basically anywhere people want crypto news without the headache. Sam runs MacLabs Marketing, a content agency for crypto brands tired of sounding like AI wrote their website. He also publishes free crypto education on his site for Web3 enthusiasts who think "gas fees" is a typo. When he's not writing or staring at charts, Sam's either: - Watching anime (currently convinced One Piece has better tokenomics than most altcoins) - At the gym sculpting himself into a Greek god - Listening to the music your mum warned you only bad boys listen to Connect: LinkedIn | Email | MacLabs Marketing
