Privacy Coin Rally: Is It Just Retail Hype, or Something More?
Monero (XMR) and Zcash (ZEC), along with other privacy-focused cryptocurrencies, have seen some wild price swings lately. Monero jumped 15% in a day to $418 on November 9, 2025, while Zcash has been on a tear, up over 700% since late September. We're seeing Decred (DCR) and Dash (DASH) also join the party, rallying 145% and 337% respectively. But is this a sustainable trend, or just another flash in the pan driven by retail speculation?
The Zcash Surge: A Closer Look
Zcash's performance is particularly eye-catching. A 14x increase from $40 to $581 in under three months is not exactly organic growth. While it's now consolidating (a.k.a. profit-taking), the numbers demand scrutiny. Zcash has surpassed Monero in market capitalization, becoming the largest privacy coin. But market cap alone doesn't tell the whole story. What's driving this demand?
The narrative around Zcash has shifted. It's no longer just niche privacy tech; it's supposedly a "functioning encrypted-money network." Shielded adoption is up, with roughly 20-25% of circulating ZEC held in encrypted addresses and around 30% of transactions involving the shielded pool. The Zashi wallet, by making shielded transfers the default, is clearly pushing privacy adoption. And then there's Project Tachyon, aiming for thousands of private transactions per second. All this paints a picture of a coin finally delivering on its promise.
But here’s where I start raising an eyebrow. The numbers don't quite add up to a 700% price increase. Twenty to twenty-five percent shielded adoption is a start, but it’s hardly a revolution. And while Tachyon sounds impressive, throughput numbers aren’t publicly available (at least, not that I could find). Are we seeing genuine utility driving this, or just clever marketing and a bit of FOMO?
Then there’s the halving event in November 2025, which reduced new supply. Basic economics says reduced supply + steady demand = higher price. But the halving was widely anticipated; it's not exactly a secret catalyst. The bridge to the NEAR network, which moved $100 million in eight weeks, is interesting (reported at $100 million, not $90 or $110 million), but let's be real – $100 million is a rounding error in the overall crypto market.
Monero's Comeback: Privacy as a Feature, Not a Bug
Monero, often seen as the original privacy coin, takes a stricter, all-encompassing approach to privacy. All Monero transactions are private by default. This has led to regulatory headaches and exchange delistings, but it also gives Monero a certain ideological purity.
Investor Naval Ravikant's tweet – “Bitcoin protects you from governments. Zcash protects you from Bitcoin” – encapsulates this sentiment. It's a powerful message, especially in a world of increasing surveillance. Georgii Verbitskii, founder of TYMIO, echoes this, arguing that "With global regulations tightening and exchanges required to report wallet ownership to tax authorities starting in 2026, privacy has turned into one of the strongest narratives in crypto."
Monero's recent 15% jump suggests renewed interest. Growing watchlist numbers indicate that investors are at least paying attention. The key question is whether this attention translates into sustained demand. Unlike Zcash, Monero hasn't undergone a radical transformation. Its core value proposition remains the same: uncompromising privacy. The price rise, therefore, suggests a shift in market sentiment, a renewed appreciation for that core value.
And here’s a methodological critique: how are these “watchlist numbers” even measured? Are we talking about CoinMarketCap watchlists, or something more sophisticated? The data's source and methodology matter as much as the data itself. Monero Bucks Market Downturn as Privacy Narrative Strengthens - Decrypt
The Regulatory Shadow: Tornado Cash and the Privacy Narrative
The elephant in the room is regulation. The Tornado Cash saga – the sanctions, the arrests, the eventual removal from the sanctions list – has cast a long shadow over the privacy coin space. The guilty verdict for Roman Storm, and Alexey Pertsev's five-year sentence, send a clear message: privacy tools are not without risk.
Slava Demchuk, CEO of AMLBot, believes that “A combination of growing surveillance and reduced privacy on major chains is likely fueling the recent surge in privacy token prices.” This makes sense. As Bitcoin and Ethereum become more transparent (or at least, less opaque), the demand for truly private alternatives increases.
But here's the paradox: increased regulatory scrutiny could simultaneously boost and hinder privacy coins. On one hand, it validates the need for privacy. On the other hand, it makes exchanges and institutions wary of listing or supporting these coins. The long-term impact is uncertain.
A Temporary Haven or a Real Revolution?
This rally in privacy coins is likely driven by a combination of factors: renewed retail interest (as Peter Chung at Presto Research points out), a growing awareness of privacy concerns, and perhaps a bit of speculative froth. Zcash's technological upgrades and Monero's unwavering commitment to privacy are both compelling narratives. But whether these narratives translate into sustained, long-term growth remains to be seen. I would like to see more real world utility before I jump on that band wagon.
