Zcash and NEAR emerge as top alternative assets in 2026

Bankless co‑founder David Hoffman argues that 2026 is seeing a shift of capital from the market’s largest cryptocurrencies toward smaller assets that offer distinct narratives. Zcash (ZEC) is attracting Bitcoin holders seeking privacy and a hedge against quantum‑computing risks, while Near Protocol (NEAR) is drawing interest as a smart‑contract platform alternative to Ethereum and Solana.

ZEC captures the “Bitcoin bid”

Hoffman describes ZEC as the latest winner of the “Bitcoin bid,” noting that Bitcoin’s $1.7 trillion market cap provides a large pool of wealth that could be partially re‑allocated. Zcash’s market cap has risen to roughly $26 billion, and its price crossed $1,000 in early September after Grayscale’s ZCSH spot ETF launched with about $304 million in assets, later growing to over $400 million.

Key factors supporting ZEC include:

• Fixed supply of 21 million coins, mirroring Bitcoin.
• Optional transaction privacy via shielded addresses.
• Growing privacy‑coin market, which expanded from $6.2 billion to about $30 billion over the past year.
• Investor concerns about quantum‑computing threats to existing cryptography.

NEAR wins the “smart‑contract bid”

Hoffman labels NEAR as the 2026 “smart‑contract bid” winner. The token traded around $4.28 on September 24, after a 60 % gain in the prior week. Developments fueling the rally include:

• Launch of NEAR/USDC spot trading on Hyperliquid.
• Perpetual futures open interest near $344 million with positive funding rates.
• Network upgrades focused on artificial‑intelligence services, chain abstraction and autonomous agents, including staking‑based AI payments that grant compute credits for 43 AI models.

Unlike ZEC, NEAR’s demand appears more dispersed, drawing from traders looking beyond Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL) rather than a direct reallocation from a single asset.

Implications for Bitcoin and Ethereum

Hoffman warns of a “blue‑chip curse,” where the sheer size of Bitcoin and Ethereum (Bitcoin ~57 % of total crypto market cap, which stood near $2.96 trillion on September 24) may limit their ability to deliver the high multiples that smaller projects can achieve. He suggests that continued growth of the overall crypto market—potentially to $10 trillion or more—will be needed for the sector to generate new winners without relying on BTC or ETH price spikes.

Overall, the analysis points to a diversification of capital within crypto, with privacy‑focused ZEC and AI‑enabled NEAR leading the alternative‑asset narrative in 2026.