The broader crypto market reversed most of its earlier gains in 2025, but privacy coins, led by Zcash [ZEC], dominated the narrative throughout the second half of the year. 

According to asset manager Grayscale, the top 20 performers in Q4 were privacy coins, including ZEC, Monero [XMR], Dash [DASH], and others. 

Beyond investor gains, ZEC and privacy coins also dominated in social mindshare, noted Grayscale. 

“Tokens in this theme dominated in mindshare, suggesting that price performance was driven at least in part by strength in narrative momentum. This coincided with rising usage across several privacy networks, including Zcash and Dash.”

In Q4, ZEC posted gains of over 600%, followed by DASH at 218%. XMR saw a 48% rally over the same period. 

For most experts, including partners at a renowned venture capital firm, a16z, privacy will be the ‘most important moat in crypto.’ If the narrative extends into 2026, then ZEC could extend its gains. 

Can ZEC hit $1000?

Worth pointing out, however, that ZEC’s gains were not that smooth and were one of the most volatile crypto assets in Q4.

After exploding over 1000% in October and tagging a record high of $751, the coin slumped by half to $320 by early December. 

At press time, it had reversed some losses and traded at $539, about 35% away from its all-time high (ATH). 

But can it double from here and cross $1000? According to a pseudonymous analyst, Anonymist, the target was reachable ahead of an inevitable supply squeeze. 

The user stated that, out of the current ZEC circulation of 16 million coins, about 5 million are shielded and may not be freely available for trading. That would leave 10 million ZEC for the market. He added, 

“As price continues to increase, the tradable supply is being squeezed, with exchanges holding fewer and fewer ‘free coins’. I project that at a price of around $1,000, there may be only around 8-9M tradable coins.”

However, at the time of writing, prediction site Polymarket was pricing a 30% chance that Zcash could hit $1,000.

In fact, according to CoinGlass data, 70% of Binance’s top traders were shorting the asset, underscoring bearish sentiment amongst some players.  

Still, a growing accumulation in the spot markets could drive the Zcash recovery in the near term. 

Final Thoughts

• The privacy segment was the most volatile and the top-performing narrative in Q4 2025, led by Zcash. 
• Analyst projected that Zcash could double to $1000, citing a pending supply squeeze.