Q4 Privacy Coins Lead the Way Against the Trend! Why Have Zcash, Monero, and Others Become the Biggest Winners?

【Chain Wen】In the last quarter of 2025, the overall crypto market entered a correction, with the six major mainstream sectors collectively turning green. However, interestingly, privacy-related assets went against the trend and became a bright spot in the market—especially the performance of Zcash (ZEC), which was particularly eye-catching.

The logic behind this phenomenon is quite clear. As blockchain technology penetrates deeper into traditional finance, the demand for privacy tools from institutions and individual users continues to rise. The usage of “shielded accounts” in Zcash has been steadily increasing, which fully demonstrates the market’s genuine need for privacy features.

Besides ZEC, other privacy assets also have their highlights. Monero (XMR), Decred (DCR), Dash (DASH), Basic Attention Token (BAT), and Beldex (BDX) all performed well. Notably, Dash’s daily trading volume in Q4 doubled, which was quite surprising. BAT needs no further explanation; its Brave browser has over 100 million monthly active users, representing a solid user base and application scenarios behind it. Beldex has further accelerated its technological iteration by integrating LayerZero to achieve cross-chain interoperability.

Looking ahead, the market focus in 2026 may shift to two major directions. First, the ongoing legislative efforts in the U.S. Congress to establish a regulatory framework for the crypto market—this bill appears to be a certainty to become law, which will impose traditional financial rules on the crypto capital market. The other is the potential impact of quantum computing on blockchain encryption methods—although quantum computing technology is still in its early stages, once it matures, the market may reassess the ability of various blockchains to withstand quantum threats.

Overall, privacy coins indeed stole the spotlight in this Q4, and from a fundamental perspective, this enthusiasm does not seem to be a fleeting trend.