Although the cryptocurrency market in 2025 is full of fluctuations, there is one sector that is quietly accelerating its rise - privacy coins.
Whether it's RWA, NFTs, or application projects blooming in various forms, the most surprising 'dark horse' this year is actually the privacy sector that everyone thought had already cooled down.
Especially Zcash (ZEC), this year's performance can be described as a 'comeback of the king'.
Privacy coins are fully rebounding, with ZEC being the biggest winner.
Since 2025, the demand for 'private transactions' has suddenly exploded among investors.
Privacy coins like XMR and ZEC originally had a group of staunch supporters, but this year they have truly entered the mainstream view.
A more intuitive change is:
ZEC and XMR both saw triple-digit growth this year.
Together, they account for a quarter of the $60 billion privacy market.
By the fourth quarter, ZEC skyrocketed by 500%, far surpassing XMR's 41%.
However, the market will not only rise without falling.
After four consecutive weeks of surging, ZEC recently fell back by 40%.
Critics are also starting to say that this wave of increase has a flavor of 'artificial inflation'.
Just when the market was hesitant, a significant event directly brought ZEC back into the spotlight:
Grayscale applies for the first U.S. ZEC spot ETF: Privacy coins are officially 'brought to the table'.
That's right, Grayscale has officially submitted an application to the SEC:
Converting the 394,400 ZEC held in trust into the first U.S. ZEC spot ETF.
Listing location: NYSE Arca
Code: ZCSH
This means:
ZEC becomes the first privacy coin to receive institutional-grade ETF support in the U.S. market.
In the past, privacy coins were often viewed as a 'gray area'; now they suddenly have the most formal financial product endorsement.
This marks a milestone change in the entire industry.
At the same time, Reliance Group has included ZEC in its official Digital Asset Trust (DAT), further confirming institutional long-term bets.
In a word:
Privacy coins are being seriously 'brought into the mainstream world' for the first time.
Technical upgrades + ecological cooperation: ZEC relies on more than just speculation for its rise.
In 2025, ZEC is not just rising in price; its ecosystem is also accelerating development.
ECC (Electric Coin Company) has launched multiple upgrades.
Strengthening privacy technology
Enhancing network performance
Preparing for future expansion
Large institutions are increasing their holdings, driving real applications.
Reliance significantly increased its holdings of ZEC.
And sees ZEC as a long-term strategic asset.
ZEC × UXLINK collaboration is landing.
Allowing developers to directly use ZEC's privacy capabilities in Web3 services.
This means that privacy features are no longer just a 'concept', but rather infrastructure that can be integrated.
These actions point to one fact:
ZEC is evolving from a 'speculative coin' to a 'utility coin'.
Lastly, a few words
The recent surge of ZEC is not coincidental.
It is driven by three major forces simultaneously:
Institutionalization (ETF)
Practical application landing (ecological cooperation)
Rising privacy demand (market trend)
If in the past, privacy coins were more of a 'philosophical discussion',
then starting in 2025, they are genuinely moving towards the public.
#zec The ETF application may just be the beginning.
The privacy sector is likely to welcome a truly mainstream cycle next.
