Zcash breaks out, but watch for profit-taking

Privacy coins are once again among the best performing segments of the crypto market this year. Since Bitcoin peaked on 6 October 2025, when it reached an all-time high of around $125.000, the sector has risen by 213%, a gain that leaves all other crypto sectors far behind. The biggest winner of that rally is Zcash, which has gained as much as 2.496% year on year thanks to growing institutional interest and the launch of a new ETF.

Even excluding Zcash, the performance of the various privacy coins remains very impressive. The remaining privacy tokens rose by a combined 56%, suggesting that demand for privacy-focused cryptocurrencies is broader based. Monero and Dash have also posted solid price gains.

The market capitalisation of the privacy sector has grown from $7.1 billion to $33.6 billion in just twelve months. This has happened despite persistent concerns about tighter regulation of privacy-focused digital assets.

$1.100

Zcash remains the sector’s flagship for now. After breaking above resistance around $530 late last year, the price shot up rapidly. A brief pullback towards $750 was absorbed by fresh buyers, after which ZEC climbed further to above $1.180. Analysts see $1.100 as a key support level. As long as it holds, new record highs could follow. A fall below $890 would, however, considerably weaken the positive technical picture.

Yet the recovery is no longer confined to Zcash alone. Monero now represents more than $10 billion of market value, while Dash is heading towards $900 million. This broader participation strengthens the foundations of the rally and suggests that investors are positioning for structural growth across the entire privacy sector.

It is a rapidly growing market, then, but watch out for profit taking. It can happen very quickly and very brutally.