Zcash Surges 2,496% as Privacy Sector Leads Market Rally

Privacy‑focused cryptocurrencies have become the sole sector outperforming its level at Bitcoin’s October 2025 peak, climbing 213% while all other major categories remain in decline.

Sector‑wide performance

According to Glassnode data as of September 6, 2026, the privacy sector’s market cap is up about 213% since Bitcoin’s high, whereas DeFi is down 27% and gaming down 74%. Over the past 30 days, 91.5% of the top 200 crypto assets posted gains, with privacy leading the pack with a 90% advance.

Zcash drives the surge

Zcash (ZEC) has risen 2,496% since the Bitcoin peak, moving from 82nd to 10th place by market capitalization and now accounting for roughly 62% of the privacy sector’s total value. The privacy sector’s combined market cap is about $33.6 billion, up from $7.1 billion a year earlier, with nearly half of that increase occurring in the past month.

Other privacy assets

All eight privacy assets with at least a year of trading history are higher. Excluding ZEC, the capitalization‑weighted privacy basket has gained 85% over the past year and 56% since Bitcoin’s October peak. Monero (XMR) has roughly doubled, while DASH, XMR and ZEN have each outperformed Bitcoin over the past 90 days.

Market debate

F2Pool co‑founder Chun Wang described Zcash’s rise as a “narrative bid,” questioning whether market‑cap size alone justifies parity with networks such as Solana. He cited Zcash’s early founders’ reward, governance disputes, a vulnerability disclosed in May affecting the Orchard privacy pool, and concerns about real‑world usage of optional privacy.

Despite the debate, privacy remains the only sector that has fully escaped the post‑Bitcoin‑high drawdown, with Zcash at the center of the discussion.