Zcash (ZEC) Surges to #3 Altcoin Spot by Trading Volume—Privacy Coins Make a Comeback

Privacy goes prime-time as ZEC flips major altcoins in volume race.

Zcash just bulldozed its way into the top three altcoins by trading volume—proving privacy tokens aren't just for dark web nostalgics. The surge comes as institutional traders pile into privacy-focused assets, hedging against regulatory overreach (or maybe just their wives checking the ledger).

Behind the volume spike: whispers of a Coinbase listing and fresh institutional custody solutions. Meanwhile, Bitcoin maxis are muttering about 'tainted coins' while secretly dusting off their Monero wallets.

Closing thought: When Wall Street starts caring about privacy, you know they've got something to hide.

Zcash’s dominance in the altcoin market

Zcash has consistently stayed ahead in the privacy coin sector, while other privacy-focused cryptocurrencies lag behind. According to Delphi Digital, ZEC has captured almost all of the gains in this niche. For example, TORN reached a new total value locked (TVL) of $1.23 billion, but Zcash’s price growth far outpaced it.

BitMEX Co-Founder Arthur Hayes also shared his bullish view, revealing that ZEC is the second-largest liquid asset in his portfolio after Bitcoin. He views Zcash as a stronger asset than XRP, and given its increasing popularity it might even surpass XRP’s market value in the future.

This chart is just so stronk I aped more.$ZEC > $XRP pic.twitter.com/2l0u1I8n7R

The network’s privacy features are earning growing trust. Zcash’s shielded supply uses zero-knowledge proofs (zk-SNARKs) to hide who is sending and receiving funds, as well as the transaction amount.

As a result, more people are using these private transactions, showing confidence in Zcash’s technology and network. In addition, new wallet integrations and the increasing focus on financial privacy are helping drive even more interest in ZEC.

Hypothetical scenarios: Could ZEC top Solana or Ethereum?

While impressive, Zcash’s recent gains are still a long way from positioning the cryptocurrency ahead of top altcoins. ZEC WOULD have to reach nearly $8,000 in price to overtake Solana, a price increase of more than 11 times the present value, giving it a market capitalization of approximately $130 billion.

Flipping ethereum is even more ambitious: ZEC would need to be worth approximately $23,400, which is more than 33 times today’s price, to reach Ethereum’s $385 billion market capitalization. Thus, while such scenarios are mathematically possible, they require massive new investment and mainstream adoption under the privacy coin narrative.

Also Read: Arthur Hayes Dumps $5M in Crypto as Markets Hit 6-Month Lows