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Private currencies have taken the crypto sector by storm during the end of 2025. Main assets like Zcash (ZEC) have managed to outperform the market, resisting significant declines even as most cryptocurrencies continue to bleed.
BeInCrypto spoke with several experts to understand why private coins are on the rise now and if it is possible to identify the next major crypto opportunity before it becomes mainstream.
Private currencies hold the lead as the best performing sector in the market
You are mentioned BeInCrypto a month ago Privacy-focused cryptocurrencies have emerged as the best-performing market sector. It’s worth noting that this remains the case today, even as the broader market continues its two-month slide.
Private currencies are up 276.4% since the beginning of the year, making it the strongest and one of the only two sectors showing positive returns this year.
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Otherwise, Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). They were recorded as negative Its recent declines. It should be noted that from the beginning of October, ZEC was valued at more than 700% Also see DASH An increase of almost 200%, indicating strong momentum.
What will drive the rally in privacy coins in 2025?
According to crypto expert and co-founder of The Coin Bureau Nick Buckren, the increase is closely related to a sharp increase in global surveillance and capital controls.
He pointed to examples such as Türkiye which granted the financial regulator wider powers to freeze crypto accounts. In addition, regulators around the world are strengthening oversight of digital assets.
Buckern explains that Bitcoin and Ethereum are no more They embody original cyberpunk ideas about privacy and resistance to censorship. Instead, they became very traceable.
They have become even easier to track than cash, fueling renewed interest in cryptocurrencies that offer stronger privacy protections.
He said that there is an ideological element that comes from early adopters, who lose faith in the narrative of Bitcoin due to the massive involvement of institutions. Privacy advocates no longer see Bitcoin as a solution. Then there are investors trying to ride the wave of momentum – for example, Zcash is up more than 1,500% over the past year. It’s natural that people want a piece of it.
Jamie Alkali, director of marketing at Bitget Wallet, shared a similar view. He noted that as the clarity of systems improves and enterprise adoption increases, users are increasingly concerned about AI-driven oversight and transparency of chain activities.
Al-Kali emphasized that this tension is reshaping expectations throughout the industry. Clear regulation attracts more major market participants, but these users come with a different set of demands.
He explained that now we see the maturity of the industry: clear regulation brings more mainstream users, and these users increasingly expect financial privacy, sovereignty and security tools as core functions, not fringe options.
Meanwhile, Nunes founder and CEO Ray Youssef attributes the rise of privacy coins to a combination of changing narratives and prevailing economic winds.
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Note that after years marked by Bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as meme-inspired altcoin cycles, capital is now flowing into the asset considered “crypto itself” with decentralization and user-controlled privacy at its core.
Youssef added that the company’s involvement in crypto continues to increase. Thus, many individual traders and native users of cryptocurrency are looking for projects that restore their sense of independence and privacy.
However, he emphasized that this change is not a rejection of institutional capital. Instead, the two forces can coexist and reinforce each other when compelling narratives gain momentum.
The executive commented that the ideological thread of privacy and sovereignty provides a strong narrative and helps engaged users, while the economic thread of the short, medium and long term appeals to traders and allocators. For the cycle to continue, the market needs to overlap, to ensure a narrative that attracts believers and metrics/flows that attract capital. What is happening now is that the ideology is on fire and the economic model is fueling the fire.
Rob Viglione, founder of zkVerify and CEO of Horizon Labs, stressed that the renewed interest reflects a broader shift in the market. He pointed out that the user They are increasingly privacy conscious As a prerequisite for real-world use rather than a specialized function.
Explain that the current moment is beyond the isolated manifestations of symbols. It marks a deeper reassessment of how privacy should work across all layers of encryption.
Viglione said the first privacy coins were revolutionary, but they were also isolating. It showed that strong cryptography was possible, but that it lived outside the environment where economic activity took place.
What is unique about the situation today is that privacy is now built directly into Ethereum-based environments. Developers are no longer looking for independent privacy threads.
Instead, they are looking for privacy solutions that integrate into the existing ecosystem where liquidity, users and applications already operate.
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“That’s why this moment matters. The price action is just a superficial signal of a much deeper change: privacy has become an expectation, not an exception,” said the CEO.
Will interest become the next meme in the world of digital currencies?
The rise of privacy-focused assets has also revived another question: Is this just another short-term bull cycle, similar to previous meme coin demonstrations, or does it reflect a real shift toward interest-based narratives? Analysts suggest the answer may lie somewhere between the two.
Youssef stated that meme coin rallies tend to be quick, highly speculative, short-lived, and often end quickly. Once that momentum fades, the market typically shifts toward narratives with more durable value.
That includes Areas such as payment, privacy, Real-world transaction layers, DeFi infrastructure, and more. In this context, privacy tokens are attracting renewed interest because they offer a clear degree of independence, protection from censorship, and the ability to make transactions without the exposure or risk of a unilateral freeze. He participated in this,
“If users and allocators conclude that these features represent lasting benefit rather than short-term hype, capital could flow into the sector long after the temporary narrative dissipates.”
Bukarin explained that meme currencies are thriving During periods of market euphoria. At the same time, value tokens tend to do better when investors are more cautious or looking for dividend payments.
“The limitation here is that we have not seen a widespread movement towards tokens that pay interest. There are pockets of outperformance, but most altcoins are still underperforming Bitcoin. We have yet to see something like a traditional altcoin season, and until we see that, an increase in tokens that pay interest is the exception rather than the rule,” he told BeInC.
How to discover the next big story in crypto
As new narratives emerge faster than ever, identifying a breakout trend early has become one of the biggest challenges and opportunities for crypto investors. Bukarin explained that,
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“It depends as much on luck as on accuracy. You can see the inefficiency in the market, or the developers who migrate to new chains or projects. You can see where there is demand. But in the end, crypto narratives are often as much speculation as the fundamentals, and that can be difficult to determine. It is often just to be in the right place at the right time.”
However, the analyst noted that institutional investment trends are a good starting point to evaluate each sector.
“If I had to choose a narrative for this cycle, it would be RWA. Institutional capital flows into the cure of RWA tokens – do not forget that this sector also includes stablecoins – and we have seen the collaboration between RWA projects and institutions. Institutional capital flows are a key indicator to follow in this cycle, since they are based on long-term need rather than what Bukarin suggests.”
Youssef took a more structured view, framing the process as “pattern recognition with signal sourcing.” Key indicators include real demand from users, on-chain activity, use of protocol functions and market expansion.
He emphasized, “For privacy, look for the adoption of protected transactions, ease of access to the exchange, integration of wallets, and regulatory news headlines. For DePIN, hardware deployment rates, partnerships with infrastructure entities, real-time data feeds, and revenue per device should be monitored. Regarding AI and on-chain network models, developer integration, developer demand, total value, capture API, API. value closure, sustainability of returns, quality of parties”. Correspondingly, custody structures have the potential to drive the next cycle. Ultimately, in all sectors, investors must monitor the durability of tokenomics, the history of security, and verify the use of the real world.”
The executive also revealed that The sentiment of the organization plays a crucial role. New narratives gain more easily when the weather is favorable. Finally, capital flows, from retail traders, whales or institutional allocators, can also be a signal.
“If these traits move together, we can be looking at an emerging meta,” he stressed.
Finally, Alkala believes that the identification of an emerging meta begins with tracking the initial indicators, such as developer activity, new exchange lists, and social momentum on platforms like X. Low market symbols with strong fundamentals often provide the first clues to form a narrative.
Investors who mix behavioral signals with fundamental analysis get the clearest view of where the build is going before it’s visible to the broader market, he said. Specify that,
“The strongest signals today are institutional flows, the expansion of the sector’s market, and the first convergence of categories such as RWA, DePIN, AI and DeFi. These areas offer a tangible benefit – from real-world infrastructure to financial automation powered by AI – which positions them as credible candidates to lead the next cycle. Everyday wallets and DeFi products, making privacy easy rather than optional.”
Although these indicators do not guarantee success, they provide a useful framework for monitoring initial momentum. As user demand, developer activity, regulation and capital flows begin to align, a new narrative can be formed, long before it becomes mainstream.
