Zcash Leads Greyscale Privacy Choices — $1,000 Coming Soon?
Investors are becoming increasingly selective when allocating capital to altcoins. This change makes the altcoin season even more favorable than before. Amid broader market fears, Zcash (ZEC) and other privacy coins remain priorities.
Recent data and reports from Grayscale show that ZEC holder sentiment remained stable in December. Some indicators have even turned more positive.
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The Zcash Shield pool has reached a new all-time high
According to data from zkp.baby, the amount of ZEC locked in the shield pool has reached a new high. The figure exceeds 5 million ZEC, which covers 30% of the circulation supply.
The shield pool is the main feature of Zcash. Allows users to convert ZEC from public addresses to restricted addresses. This method ensures enhanced privacy.
Notably, the amount of ZEC in shield pools remained around 4.8 million as of November. This stability has continued despite the fact that the price of ZEC fell by almost 60% at one point. The data suggests that ZEC holders anticipated long-term volatility and ignored short-term volatility.
In December, the price of ZEC rose again by more than 70 percent. At the same time, Shield Pools set a new all-time high. These developments further boosted investor confidence. This background may explain why Arthur Hayes, the former CEO of BitMEX and a prominent investor, is bullish on ZEC.
“The tears of the bears will be my leverage. ZEC will first stop at $1,000.” – said Arthur Hayes.
Reaching this all-time high shows Zcash's growing appeal. It also reflects a broader shift toward digital assets with an emphasis on privacy and security.
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Grayscale highlights six privacy-focused Altcoins
Greyscale's Q4 2025 report further strengthened Zcash's position. Greyscale is one of the largest cryptocurrency investment companies in the world.
The report described the quarter as a period of consolidation after strong growth. However, the privacy coin segment emerged as a standout performer.
Grayscale highlights six privacy-focused altcoins. Zcash not only led the privacy category, but also the top 20 universe tracked by Grayscale.
“The list of top 20 performers in Q4 featured privacy-related tokens including Zcash (ZEC), Monero (XMR), Dash (DASH), Decred (DCR), Basic Attention Token (BAT) and Beldex (BDX),” reports Grayscale.
A recent BeInCrypto report shows that XMR continues to have more on-chain usage than ZEC. Investors who missed the rallies in XMR and ZEC may want to consider smaller privacy coins like DASH, DCR and BAT.
Grayscale emphasizes that institutional demand is shifting to properties that offer strong privacy. This trend will only intensify as data breach scandals continue to surface.
The report also predicts that the privacy coin segment will continue to grow strongly through 2026. Integration with DeFi and Web3 applications is expected to drive this expansion.
