Zcash Emerges as Top-Performing Large-Cap Crypto of the Year

The top-performing large-cap cryptocurrency of the year isn’t Bitcoin, but Zcash, which has surged more than 800% as investor interest in privacy-focused tokens took center stage.

ZEC was trading at $506 at publication time, up sharply from roughly $60 in January, according to CoinMarketCap. And the rally has far outpaced major cryptocurrencies of at least $1 billion in market capitalization.

By comparison, Bitcoin (BTC) is down 6.2% year-to-date to $87,637, while Ether (ETH) has fallen 10% to $2,977.

Zcash’s market capitalization now stands at roughly $8.3 billion, with 24-hour trading volume exceeding $800 million, per CoinMarketCap.

Zcash’s rally comes as privacy-related tokens are drawing attention again after years of lagging the broader market. As rules tighten on centralized platforms, some users are turning back to crypto tools that offer more control over how their financial activity is shared.

“Zcash performed very well in 2025, driven by a powerful revival of the privacy narrative as investors increasingly valued onchain privacy tools,” Jake Kennis, a research analyst at Nansen told The Defiant. “With rising shielded transaction usage and a strong narrative amidst a strong need for privacy, Zcash is well-positioned as a leader in the privacy sector.”

Monero's XMR Also Rallied

And ZEC’s strong performance isn’t happening in isolation. The second-best performing large-cap cryptocurrency was Monero’s XMR, the coin of another privacy-focused blockchain. XMR is up 127% year-to-date.

Zcash’s gains have also been supported by its core privacy features, Kennis has previously told The Defiant. This includes features such as Zcash’s zero-knowledge architecture, the Zashi wallet for shielded transactions, and its integration with Solana, which has made the network easier to use and more accessible.

On Tuesday, Dec. 30, Cypherpunk Technologies, a privacy-focused tech firm, also announced that it had purchased an additional 56,418 ZEC for about $29 million, at an average price of around $514 per token.

The purchase expands its digital asset treasury and brings the company’s total Zcash holdings to just over 290,000 ZEC, or about 1.8% of Zcash’s circulating supply.

Cypherpunk said the move is part of a longer-term plan to accumulate up to 5% of the Zcash network, arguing that markets are beginning to “reprice the societal importance of privacy,” according to Chief Investment Officer Will McEvoy.