The privacy token sector of cryptocurrency increased by 213% since the October peak of 2025, driven by the rise of Zcash (ZEC). While Bitcoin (BTC) remains significantly below its record, the total market capitalization of the sector rose from $7.1 billion to $33.6 billion. Zcash accounts for about 62% of this capitalization, increasing 25 times over the year and climbing from 82nd to 9th place in the market capitalization ranking.
Wise Crypto analyst notes that Zcash is the main driver of this growth, as only a few other tokens, such as Monero (XMR), have also shown positive dynamics. The Grayscale Zcash ETF, ticker $ZCSH, surpassed the $500 million mark within two weeks of its launch. Meanwhile, Zcash's main competitor, Monero, has doubled in price despite being delisted from several exchanges. As of now, only four of the twenty-five largest assets are trading above their October levels: ZEC, HYPE, XMR, and WBT.
There are also skeptics who are wary of Zcash's sharp rise. Analyst filbfilb argues that ZEC's valuations based on its transaction activity may suggest a price of around $944, significantly lower than the current level of about $1,140, but based on scenarios of full convergence with Bitcoin, a higher fair value is implied. While Bitcoin has fluctuated around $77,000, losing about 34% over the year, Zcash shows a significant increase of 2,100% over the same period. However, the current price of Zcash is still far from its historical high of around $3,190, reached in 2016.
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