This Crypto Sector Is Up 213% Since Bitcoin’s 2025 Peak – One Coin Is Driving It

Much of that sector-wide gain comes down to one token, Zcash, which now represents about 62% of the privacy market.

Privacy coins have climbed 213% since Bitcoin’s October 2025 peak even as BTC itself remains well below that high, according to a breakdown posted today by analyst Wise Crypto.

It is a narrow corner of the market, but one token in particular, Zcash (ZEC), has pulled the entire privacy sector into positive territory while most of crypto is still digging out of a year-long drawdown.

One Sector, but Mostly One Coin

Wise Crypto’s numbers show the privacy sector’s combined market cap growing from $7.1 billion a year ago to $33.6 billion now. Zcash accounts for roughly 62% of that total on its own, up 25x over the past year, with its market-cap ranking climbing from #82 to #7 at one point, though CoinGecko data currently places it at #9.

Glassnode data published last week also found something similar: that privacy was the only sector trading above its October peak, with every other category still underwater by double digits.

Grayscale’s Zcash ETF, ticker $ZCSH, crossed $500 million in assets within two weeks of launch, while Monero (XMR), the second-largest asset in the privacy category, has approximately doubled over the same stretch despite facing delistings from several exchanges.