Zcash has stormed past Monero to reclaim its position as the most valuable privacy-focused cryptocurrency, surging to levels not seen in over eight years. The rally defied the broader crypto market downturn, signaling a renewed investor appetite for privacy assets amid growing global economic uncertainty.

Zcash Defies Market Slump with 45% Weekly Surge

ZEC, the native token of Zcash, climbed to a high of $388 on Friday after gaining 7.6% in the past 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap data. The coin’s market capitalization now stands at $6.2 billion, pushing it ahead of Monero (XMR), which traded around $328 at the same time. Zcash’s weekly gain of 45% sharply contrasts the overall digital asset market, which has been consolidating since a stalled tariff agreement between the US and China weighed on investor sentiment.

The rally highlights investors’ growing confidence in privacy coins, a niche category of cryptocurrencies designed to keep user transactions hidden from public view.

Rising Demand for Privacy in Crypto

Privacy coins such as Zcash and Monero offer advanced cryptographic features that obscure transaction details, including sender, receiver, and amount transferred. Unlike Bitcoin, where transactions are visible on-chain, privacy coins are engineered to mask wallet addresses and transaction histories.

The recent rise of Zcash underscores a broader shift in investor focus toward financial privacy and anonymity. Analysts say that amid rising global surveillance and tightening regulatory oversight, traders and investors may be seeking greater autonomy over their on-chain activity.

Hayes’s Bold $10,000 Call Sparks Momentum

Fueling the latest rally was a high-profile endorsement from BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes. Earlier this week, Hayes predicted that ZEC could surge to $10,000, a call that quickly energized market sentiment. Following his post, Zcash jumped from $272 to $355 within hours as traders rushed to accumulate the token.

“Crazy to see how $ZEC has pulled a 10x in just two months, completely decoupling from the market and ignoring overall sentiment,” wrote Simon Dedic, founder and managing partner at Moonrock Capital. “This isn’t some small-cap token, it’s a multibillion-dollar asset. That makes this kind of performance even more remarkable.”

Hayes’s bullish forecast appears to have reinforced optimism around the coin’s long-term potential, especially among investors who view privacy tokens as a hedge against centralized control in the digital economy.

Whale Activity and Retail Influx

While Zcash’s price action has been explosive, on-chain data reveals an interesting dynamic among holders. According to analytics platform Nansen, the number of ZEC tokenholders jumped 63% to 1,968 over the past week, suggesting strong retail participation. However, large holders—or “whales”—have been trimming their positions, offloading a net total of around $702,000 in ZEC during the same period.

Analysts interpret the data as a healthy sign of market rotation, where early investors are taking profits while new participants enter the ecosystem. The influx of smaller holders could also reflect growing public awareness and confidence in Zcash’s long-term fundamentals.

The Return of Privacy in a Transparent Era

Zcash’s resurgence comes at a time when debates around financial privacy are intensifying. Governments worldwide are increasing scrutiny of crypto transactions, introducing stricter KYC and AML rules that challenge the privacy ethos of early cryptocurrency adopters. Yet, the renewed interest in coins like Zcash and Monero suggests that a portion of the market still values anonymity as a key pillar of digital freedom.

By breaking through to an eight-year high, Zcash has not only revived the privacy coin narrative but also reminded the crypto community that user confidentiality remains an enduring priority. Whether Hayes’s ambitious $10,000 target materializes remains to be seen, but the latest rally has clearly reignited investor enthusiasm for one of the crypto market’s oldest privacy pioneers.

Zcash’s dramatic ascent, against a backdrop of regulatory headwinds and a subdued broader market, reinforces a simple truth: in the world of digital assets, privacy is making a powerful comeback.