• Zcash’s price exploded in late October, and its privacy focus has pushed the token into market discussions.
  • Some argued that Zcash could replace Bitcoin (BTC) due to its shielded wallet activity.

Zcash (ZEC), a decentralized, open-source, privacy-focused cryptocurrency, experienced a record-breaking rally in October. This rally, combined with Zcash’s built-in privacy mechanisms, has put Zcash in the market spotlight.

Zcash Leads Privacy Coins

According to CoinMarketCap data, the total market cap of all privacy coins combined currently amounts to $55 billion. Zcash is now leading other privacy coins, with a market cap of $6.44 billion.

Zcash experienced a price breakout in late October. ZEC, which started at below $80 in October 2025, has exploded by over 182% in the past month.

As of this writing, ZEC is traded at $417, up 2.57% to flip Monero (XMR), which is valued at $350.57. Zcash and other privacy coins rallied higher despite the October 10 crash, which began after U.S. President Donald Trump  threatened 100% tariffs on  China.

As explained in our last analysis, the privacy trend is not just based on speculation. Zcash has drawn renewed interest from privacy-focused traders following a sharp increase in shielded wallet activity.

Crypto traders are increasingly shifting their attention toward projects like Zcash that are building zero-knowledge systems powered by real incentives. 

All transactions sent between shielded addresses are added to a pool for privately transacted coins. As that pool grows, the anonymity set of the network expands, strengthening the privacy guarantees for users. The shielded pool is now the largest it has ever been, closing in on 4.9 million ZEC.

To kick off November, Zcash developer Electric Coin Company (ECC) introduced new features in its Zashi wallet.

In our last update, we examined that the new features allow users to perform cross-chain swaps. It also permits private payments through an integration with Nеаr’s Intents system.

Can Zcash Replace Bitcoin?

The rise of Zcash has led many analysts to draw comparisons with Bitcoin. Some have argued that Zcash could eventually “replace” Bitcoin.

Importantly, Zcash and Bitcoin have similar economic structures. Zcash developers created the token from the original Bitcoin code.

Also, Zcash has a fixed 21 million token supply and a similar halving timetable, mirroring that of Bitcoin.

However, Zcash supporters claim the token stands out against Bitcoin due to its privacy features.

They emphasized these privacy features, integrated directly into the Zcash protocol, to let users maintain confidentiality.

In contrast, the Bitcoin blockchain is relatively more transparent. Every wallet address, transaction, and amount transferred is permanently visible on the public ledger.

Edward Snowden said the Bitcoin weakness is its lack of privacy. He noted that this is a potential reason for failure.

Thor Torrens also warned that the Bitcoin era may be nearing its end. Torrens argued that privacy features must be integrated into the base layer of a layer-1 blockchain from the outset. He believes Bitcoin can no longer do this, paving the way for Zcash to take the number 1 spot.

While these insights reflect strong confidence in Zcash, its potential to replace Bitcoin remains a subject of debate. Over the past decade, Bitcoin has solidified its role as the leading store-of-value asset .