Privacy Tokens Rally as Market Revisits 2018-Era Themes
Capital is flowing back into the privacy sector as broader liquidity searches for fresh narratives, signaling a “back-to-roots” trade reminiscent of the 2017–18 bull market cycle.
Privacy-focused tokens are up sharply, posting an average 15% gain over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko. Zcash (ZEC, $233.69) leads the surge with a 40% one-day gain, pushing its seven-day returns over 85%, making it the top-performing large-cap token.
Other notable movers include Dash (DASH, $44.56), Verge (XVG, $0.00748), Decred (DCR, $19.84), and Tornado Cash (TORN, $15.02), each up 13–35%. Railgun’s RAIL token stands out with a 117% one-day gain and more than 300% over the past week. Trading volumes are rising across the sector, with ZEC alone recording $1.1 billion in 24-hour spot turnover.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin trades just under $122,000 and Ether around $4,350, as top coins pause after earlier highs this week.
Tech-Driven Catalysts
Monero (XMR) continues as the core privacy play, bolstered by its “Fluorine Fermi” update enhancing protection against spy nodes. Railgun benefits from renewed attention on its smart contract–based shielded transactions, while Zcash’s rally is supported by Zashi wallet integrations enabling cross-chain shielded swaps. Dash has jumped as traders revisit its payments branding amid renewed stablecoin regulation debates.
Flows suggest longer-term positioning around regulatory narratives, with investors rotating into sectors beyond Bitcoin—including AI, meme coins, infrastructure, and now privacy. Multi-day strength indicates this is more than a one-off spike. Historically, privacy tokens rally during heightened surveillance or compliance concerns. Today, a U.S. government shutdown, dovish central bank signals, and renewed financial censorship debates create a similar environment, aligning privacy assets with Bitcoin’s hedge narrative.
