Privacy-focused cryptocurrencies have sharply diverged from the broader crypto market, gaining 213% since October 2025 while Bitcoin remains 36% below its peak from that period, according to data shared by on-chain analytics firm Glassnode. The median asset among the top 200 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization is still 58% behind its October 2025 high, while privacy coins have become the only crypto sector above those levels.
The privacy sector's expansion has been both rapid and broad. A year ago, privacy coins among the top 200 assets were worth roughly $7.1 billion. They now hold a combined market capitalization of $33.6 billion, nearly equivalent to Tron's market cap, with almost half of that increase coming in the last 30 days. Over that same 30-day period, the privacy sector gained 90%, making it the highest-performing category in the crypto market.
ZEC has been the dominant driver, rising 2,496% over the year and jumping from 82nd to seventh in market cap ranking. ZEC now represents 62% of the privacy sector's $33.6 billion capitalization. The gains extend beyond ZEC: all eight privacy coins with at least one year of history have gained, and excluding ZEC, the cap-weighted privacy basket is up 85% over the year. Over 90 days, DASH, XMR and ZEN each outpaced Bitcoin, with XMR doubling during the same period as ZEC's sharp rise.
Elsewhere, the wider market remains below its previous highs. DeFi is 27% lower and gaming is 74% lower than October 2025 levels. Among the 25 largest assets, only ZEC, HYPE, XMR and WBT remain above their Oct. 6 prices, two of which are privacy coins. Only 25 of the top 200 assets are higher on the year, while the median asset is down 55%. Still, the recent rebound has been historically broad: 91.5% of top 200 assets gained during the past 30 days, the widest 30-day gain in Glassnode's history, and the return spread across the 10 sector indices reached its highest level since Nov. 20, 2025.
