Zcash Gains 70% in a Week Amid Growing Interest in Privacy

Zcash has climbed more than 70% over the past week as traders increasingly focus on privacy-oriented crypto projects. The asset traded near $346 on May 1 before rallying to a seven-day high of $593.86 on Wednesday. As of Friday, Zcash was trading around $570, according to data from CoinGecko.

Pav Hundal, lead market analyst at Swyftx, said investors have recently shown stronger interest in privacy-focused projects “amid broader concerns about the impact of AI, quantum computing and financial surveillance on crypto.”

Momentum also appeared to increase after Tushar Jain revealed on Wednesday that Multicoin Capital had “built a significant position” in ZEC since February.

Privacy narrative gains traction

Zcash remains one of the most recognized privacy-focused cryptocurrencies, alongside competitor Monero. Jain argued that privacy assets could become increasingly attractive as “institutions will increasingly seek private assets to protect themselves” from what he described as a “political trend to seize private wealth.”

The renewed focus on privacy comes as several blockchain projects introduce new confidentiality features. Polygon recently launched private stablecoin payments, while Aptos Labs rolled out Confidential APT on mainnet in April, enabling concealed balances and transfer amounts.

Market intelligence platform Santiment said Zcash was “emphatically rebounding,” noting that social media activity and fear of missing out had risen alongside the token’s price.

Santiment suggested that declining trust in governments may be contributing to growing retail interest in privacy-focused assets. “The crowd is increasingly viewing privacy-focused assets as a hedge against growing surveillance concerns, tighter exchange regulations and expanding AI-driven data tracking across financial platforms,” Santiment said.

“At the same time, lower market caps across many privacy coins have traders eyeing them as high-upside momentum plays during this mild altcoin rally crypto has seen so far in May,” it added.

Analysts caution rally may not last

Privacy-focused cryptocurrencies became a major investment theme in 2025, outperforming much of the broader market during periods of weakness.

Zcash nearly reached $700 in November, its highest level since 2018, while Monero climbed to a record high of $797.73 in January. However, both assets later gave back a significant portion of those gains.

Hundal cautioned that the latest rally could also prove temporary.

“Zcash’s move has some hallmarks of a narrative rotation into privacy coins,” he said. “I’d be careful calling it a clean fundamental repricing just yet. We need more time to see how durable investor interest is.”

Sources:

https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/zcash?chart=type%3Dprice%26mode%3Dline%26timeframe%3Dd365

https://cointelegraph.com/news/zcash-price-surges-privacy-coins-ai-surveillance-concerns

https://x.com/SantimentData/status/2052156258250338577