Why Privacy Coins Such as Zcash and Monero Outperform the Rest

Privacy coins have once again emerged as the biggest winners in the crypto market, just as they did last year. Open CoinMarketCap today and pull up the year-to-date performance, and one sector stands clearly above the rest: privacy coins.

Zcash has gained around 65% since the start of the year, while Monero is up roughly 21%. Most other major altcoins, and Bitcoin itself, remain firmly in the red so far this year.

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A few days ago, on 25 August, ZEC recorded its highest price in eight years. Over just seven days of that month, the coin climbed about 60% against Bitcoin, which gained around 20% over the same period.

That sharp move points to investors shifting their capital towards privacy-focused assets. Other privacy coins, including Dash, Tezos and Monero, also moved higher.

Still, caution is warranted. The recent rally has come with substantial leveraged positions and extremely high volatility. In June this year, Zcash lost roughly 50% of its value in the space of just 24 hours after a serious vulnerability was disclosed in the Orchard protocol.

Monero, meanwhile, is following a less spectacular but notably stable path. The largest privacy coin rose around 17% over the past week, while many other coins in the top 15 lost ground.