Privacy-focused cryptocurrency Zcash (ZEC) has surged more than 70% over the past week as traders renewed interest in privacy-centric crypto projects.
Zcash was trading near $346 on May 1 before rallying to a seven-day high of $593.86 on Wednesday. The token has since stabilized around $570, according to market data from CoinGecko.
Pav Hundal, lead market analyst at Swyftx, told Cointelegraph that investors are increasingly focusing on privacy projects due to growing concerns over AI, quantum computing, and expanding financial surveillance in the crypto industry.
The rally also gained momentum after Tushar Jain revealed on Wednesday that Multicoin Capital had accumulated a “significant position” in ZEC since February.
Zcash remains one of the leading privacy-oriented cryptocurrencies, second only to Monero (XMR) in prominence. Jain argued that privacy assets could become increasingly attractive as institutions seek ways to shield themselves from what he described as a growing political push toward greater financial oversight and wealth seizure.
The broader crypto sector has also seen a wave of new privacy-focused developments. Polygon recently introduced private stablecoin payment features, while Aptos Labs launched Confidential APT in April, enabling hidden balances and transfer amounts onchain.
Meanwhile, market intelligence platform Santiment said Wednesday that Zcash was “emphatically rebounding,” noting that social media mentions and fear of missing out had surged alongside the token’s price. Santiment added that declining trust in governments may be helping drive renewed retail interest in privacy-focused cryptocurrencies.
“The crowd is increasingly viewing privacy-focused assets as a hedge against rising surveillance concerns, stricter exchange regulations, and the expansion of AI-powered financial data tracking,” Santiment said.
The analytics platform added that the relatively small market capitalizations of many privacy coins are also attracting traders looking for high-upside momentum opportunities during the modest altcoin rally seen so far in May.
Privacy emerged as a major crypto investment theme in 2025, with privacy-focused tokens outperforming much of the broader market despite weakness across other sectors.
Zcash nearly climbed above $700 in November, marking its highest level since 2018, while Monero reached a record high of $797.73 in January.
Still, neither asset managed to sustain those gains, and Swyftx analyst Pav Hundal cautioned that the latest rally may also prove temporary.
“Zcash’s move has some hallmarks of a narrative rotation into privacy coins,” Hundal said, adding that it may be premature to view the surge as a full-scale fundamental revaluation. “We need more time to determine how durable investor demand really is.”
