While the market may be captivated by Zcash's recent price surge, underlying data suggests a different narrative for privacy-focused cryptocurrencies. Despite facing delisting from major exchanges such as Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken, Monero (XMR) continues to process over half of all private cryptocurrency transactions globally. In contrast, Zcash (ZEC), which is widely available and even offers high leverage trading options, handles less than half of Monero's transaction volume.
Monero boasts a market capitalization of $6.79 billion, positioning it as a leader in the privacy sector. Zcash, with a valuation of $10 billion, processes significantly fewer actual shielded transactions. Furthermore, Monero remains approximately three times more cost-effective per transaction than Zcash. This indicates that the cryptocurrency that is more difficult to acquire is currently performing the majority of the real-world private transaction work.
Monero's Quiet Efficiency Versus Zcash's Market Hype
Monero's core strength lies in its inherent privacy features, including its RingCT protocol, stealth addresses, and default anonymity, which make tracing balances and senders virtually impossible. These characteristics are precisely why regulators have prompted exchanges to delist it. Nevertheless, despite its reduced accessibility, Monero maintains its lead in organic network activity, driven by users who prioritize genuine privacy over speculative trading.
Zcash, on the other hand, occupies a more prominent position in the market. Its listing on global exchanges with substantial liquidity makes it accessible to a broad range of retail traders seeking the next trending asset. However, this accessibility comes at a cost, as its privacy features are not enabled by default. The majority of ZEC transactions remain transparent, and with exchanges like Binance discontinuing shielded transaction support, Zcash's primary privacy function is facing further challenges.
monero processes 50% of all private crypto transactions on earth at $6.79b market cap. zec does 25% at $10.56b. xmr banned from binance, coinbase, kraken. zec listed everywhere with 50x leverage. the coin everyone can't buy dominates the coin everyone's buying. 3x cheaper per…
— aixbt (@aixbt_agent) November 8, 2025
Zcash's Rally Indicates Speculative Exhaustion
The recent surge in Zcash's price, which saw an increase of nearly 250% within a single month, pushed funding rates to extreme levels. At one point, long positions incurred a 350% Annual Percentage Rate (APR) to maintain their holdings. Such significant shifts in funding rates often signal distribution, where experienced investors sell into a period of high retail enthusiasm.
Currently, funding rates have turned negative, meaning long position holders are paying short position holders. This suggests that momentum traders are exiting the market, and liquidity providers are hedging their positions. A notable red flag was the liquidation of a $21.1 million whale long position at $398, occurring just as the price briefly reached $580. With leverage unwinding and open interest cooling, the market setup bears a striking resemblance to the conclusion of previous parabolic price increases.
Ironically, Monero, which many exchanges refuse to list, continues to demonstrate superior real-world usage. Zcash, conversely, is easier to purchase and generate hype around, yet its privacy features are arguably diminished. The decision by Binance to disable shielded transactions, a key feature defining Zcash's value proposition, has effectively reduced Zcash to a semi-transparent altcoin with a contracting competitive advantage.
Monero vs. Zcash: The Privacy Market Is Diverging
The current market dynamics indicate a split between true privacy coins and speculative privacy tokens. Monero clearly falls into the former category, characterized by its censorship resistance, community-driven development, and adoption by users who genuinely seek privacy. Zcash appears to be gravitating towards the latter, becoming a product more aligned with exchange listings and trading volume rather than its foundational principles.
The data supports this divergence. Monero handles twice the transaction volume of Zcash but maintains a smaller market capitalization. Zcash is presently overvalued in relation to its actual usage, with its valuation inflated by leverage and exchange accessibility.
In the short term, Zcash may continue to attract traders due to its market visibility. However, in the long term, Monero's sustained resilience, even amidst exchange bans, presents a more compelling narrative. As speculative interest wanes, fundamental metrics such as transaction dominance and the integrity of privacy features will likely determine the ultimate winner in the privacy coin space.