Monero Rockets to Eight-Year High Above $592 As Privacy Tokens Regain Momentum

Monero rockets to highest level in eight years, topping $592 as privacy tokens regain favor Monero surged above $592 on Sunday, marking its strongest price showing in eight years and reversing a long period in the sidelines for privacy-focused crypto. CoinGecko data show the coin jumped 24% on the day and about 40% over the past week, building on a breakout to roughly $542 in January 2018. The recent move continues a trend that began late last year, when privacy-linked tokens weathered market turbulence better than many other digital assets. While Zcash drew much of the spotlight in Q4, traders and funds have steadily rotated back into privacy plays, market participants say. “Monero’s move to a new high fits with what we’ve been seeing in the privacy segment for a while,” Ryan McMillin, chief investment officer at crypto fund manager Merkle Tree Capital, told Decrypt. “Privacy was one of the few areas that held up relatively well through Q4 last year.” But McMillin warned investors to read Monero’s rapid gains through a market-structure lens. Many privacy coins are delisted or never listed on regulated, onshore exchanges for compliance reasons, concentrating trading volume on a smaller set of offshore platforms. “When liquidity is concentrated on exchanges that can list these assets, price discovery can be more fragmented,” he said. “That increases the scope for sharper swings and, at times, potential price manipulation, so I’d be cautious about over-interpreting short-term moves without looking closely at where volume is coming from.” Beyond short-term trading dynamics, advocates for privacy coins point to a deeper demand story. As governments tighten restrictions on cash and step up oversight of non-bank payment channels, technologies that preserve transactional privacy may draw renewed interest — even as regulatory debates around such coins continue. Monero’s rally comes amid a broader crypto market that has struggled to find a clear trend in recent weeks, with sector-specific narratives — like privacy, staking, and regulatory developments — increasingly dictating price action. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news