Privacy Coins Skyrocket: Zcash Leads the Charge to 7-Year Highs Amid Growing Demand for Crypto Anonymity

Privacy coins have made a remarkable comeback in early November 2025, with Zcash (ZEC) taking center stage by soaring to a seven-year high of over $730 and reaching a $10 billion market capitalization. Blockchain analysis company Santiment points out ZEC's remarkable 15x rise since September and more than 200% gains in the last 30 days. As of November 9, the market capitalization of the whole privacy coin industry has grown to $41.7 billion, up 41.6% in just 24 hours. With three-year highs achieved by standouts such as Dash (DASH) and Monero (XMR) attracting investors via sophisticated features including ring signatures and clandestine addresses, the increased emphasis on transactional anonymity in the face of growing surveillance worries is underlined.

Increased worries about regulatory scrutiny, including the extension of the FATF Travel Rule to privacy assets, drive this momentum together with technical developments such as Zcash's NU5 upgrade, enabling smooth private payments. Institutional actors increasingly shield their transactions—evidenced by Zcash's concealed addresses increasing from 10% of supply in 2024 to 30% in 2025—which points to a rise in demand for decentralized, cross-chain privacy solutions. Driven by institutional selling and options expiration, Bitcoin's 7% decline to roughly $102,000 runs against the rally, therefore stressing a clear market rotation toward altcoins emphasizing confidentiality.

Funded by seized assets and state mining income, Kazakhstan is also planning to start a national cryptocurrency reserve fund of between $500 million and $1 billion by early 2026. Avoiding direct crypto assets like Bitcoin, the fund will aim at ETFs, digital currency stocks, and blockchain infrastructure for a measured entrance into the industry. Though there may be legal obstacles and delisting risks for privacy coins, the expansion of the industry betrays growing belief in privacy as a fundamental crypto theme.