Zcash reached $1,512.87, up 10.51% and ninth by market value, while NEAR rose 20.96%, Dash 10.4% and COTI 45% across the same stretch. Privacy was the only sector working as the wider market fell. Monero went the other way, and Zcash’s own volume fell as its price climbed.
Zcash, NEAR, Dash and COTI Prices Today
The Zcash price today is $1,512.87, up 10.51% over 24 hours and ranked ninth by market value at $25.52 billion. It opened the session near $1,381, dipped toward $1,330, then ran through $1,500 overnight, having changed hands close to $1,100 as recently as 15 September.
NEAR gained 20.96% to $3.12 after confidential deposits crossed $70 million, Dash added 10.4%, and COTI rose 45.07% to $0.02466 on volume up 181% to $97.08 million. Each move had a different trigger, which is what separates this from a single-token squeeze.
Read more: ZEC Price Prediction
Zcash Volume Fell 0.81%
Zcash turnover reached $2.65 billion, which is 0.81% lower than the previous day even as the price gained 10.51%. That equals 10.39% of market value, thin participation for a double-digit move in a token this size.
Rising price on flat volume means fewer participants moving the same asset further, which is the opposite of broad accumulation. Futures volume in ZEC has run near $7 billion against far smaller spot turnover, so leverage is carrying more of this than cash buying.
Monero Fell as Zcash Price Surged
Monero, the largest privacy coin by name recognition and Zcash’s closest architectural rival, trended downward while the rest of the sector rose, and Zcash has now extended its lead over Monero to more than $10 billion in market value.
That pattern looks less like capital rotating into privacy as a theme and more like capital rotating into specific assets with specific catalysts. A sector-wide bid would have carried Monero with it.
Why Each Token Moved
Holders voted with near unanimity on 16 September to cut target block times from 75 seconds to 25 as part of the NU7 upgrade, while preserving its Bitcoin-style halving schedule. Grayscale’s spot ZCSH ETF passed $500 million in assets on 10 September.
COTI confirmed its Privacy-on-Demand stack went live on Avalanche mainnet on 17 September, a verified product launch, not a narrative. NEAR’s confidential total value locked crossing $70 million triggered the first snapshot of its incentive program. Dash has no comparable catalyst and is the clearest beta play in the group.
Zcash Is 76% of the Privacy Sector
Zcash alone accounts for about 76% of the privacy sector’s combined market value of roughly $33.6 billion. The next-ranked privacy name trails at about $18 billion, and everything below that is a small fraction of the total.
A sector described as broadly strong is in practice one large asset and a set of smaller ones that track it, so the correlation amplifying gains will amplify a reversal just as efficiently.
Why Institutions Are Buying Privacy Coins
A US-regulated spot ETF now holds more than $500 million in a privacy coin, and Paradigm has confirmed it remains an investor in Zcash.
NEAR frames its own milestone as part of an industry-wide privacy wave, with confidential execution live across more than 30 connected blockchains.
The Risks Worth Naming
Zcash is up around 2,496% over the past year and sits at multi-year highs, so the anchor of this sector carries the least room for error in it. Circulating supply stands at 16.87 million of a 21 million cap, leaving about 80% mined, and the fully diluted valuation is $31.8 billion against a $25.52 billion market capitalization.
Several jurisdictions including Japan and South Korea have removed privacy coins from exchanges, and the EU intends to ban them under MiCA by 2027. The regulatory direction outside the United States still runs against the sector.
FAQs
1. Why are privacy coins rallying?
Privacy coins are rallying on separate catalysts rather than one shared driver. Zcash has a governance vote backing faster blocks and an ETF above $500 million, COTI has launched its privacy stack on Avalanche, and NEAR has triggered an incentive snapshot after confidential deposits crossed $70 million. All four rose together on 17 September.
2. How high did Zcash go?
Zcash reached $1,512.87, a gain of 10.51% over 24 hours, taking its market capitalization to $25.52 billion and lifting it to ninth by market value. That puts it more than $10 billion ahead of Monero.
3. Did every privacy coin rise?
No. Monero fell while Zcash, NEAR, Dash and COTI all gained. Zcash had a governance vote and a $500 million ETF, COTI launched its privacy stack on Avalanche, NEAR crossed $70 million in confidential deposits, and Monero had no announcement of its own. Money moved into four specific tokens, not into privacy as a category.
4. What is the risk in the privacy sector rally?
The main risk in the privacy sector rally is concentration. Zcash is 76% of the sector's $33.6 billion market value, so a reversal there drags the smaller names down with it. Zcash's own rally is thinning, with volume down 0.81% as the price rose 10.51% and futures turnover far above spot, so leverage is carrying more of the move than cash buying. Japan, South Korea and others have delisted privacy coins, and the EU intends to ban them under MiCA by 2027.
