Investors are becoming increasingly selective when allocating funds to altcoins. This change makes altcoin seasons more selective than before. Amid uncertainty in the market, Zcash (ZEC) and other privacy coins remain a priority.
Grayscale’s latest data and reports show that ZEC holders’ sentiment remained stable in December. Some indicators have turned even more positive.
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Zcash Sealed Pool Reaches All-Time High
According to data from zkp.baby, the amount of ZEC locked in sealed pools has reached a new all-time high. The number exceeded 5 million ZEC, accounting for approximately 30% of the circulating supply.
Sealed pools are a core feature of Zcash. This allows users to convert ZEC from a transparent address to a shielded address. This mechanism provides enhanced privacy.
Notably, the amount of ZEC in the sealed pool remained at approximately 4.8 million throughout November. This stability continued even as ZEC’s price fell by nearly 60% at one point. This data suggests that ZEC holders maintained long-term beliefs and ignored short-term volatility.
In December, ZEC’s price rebounded by more than 70%. At the same time, the sealed pool hit a new all-time high. These developments further boosted investor confidence. This background may explain why Arthur Hayes, former BitMEX CEO and prominent investor, announced a bullish outlook on ZEC.
“The tears of the bears are my food. ZEC stops $1000 first.” — Arthur Hayes said.
Achieving this all-time high highlights Zcash’s increasing appeal. This also signals a broader shift of capital towards digital assets that emphasize privacy and security.
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Six privacy-focused altcoins highlighted in grayscale
Grayscale’s Q4 2025 report further strengthened Zcash’s position. Grayscale is one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency investment companies.
The report describes the quarter as a consolidation phase after strong growth. However, the privacy coin sector was the standout performer.
Grayscale highlighted six privacy-focused altcoins. Zcash topped not only the privacy category, but also the entire Top 20 universe tracked by Grayscale.
“The list of top 20 companies in Q4 included several privacy-related tokens, including Zcash (ZEC), Monero (XMR), Dash (DASH), Decred (DCR), Basic Attendant Token (BAT), and Beldex (BDX),” Grayscale reported.
A recent BeInCrypto report also showed that XMR maintains stronger on-chain usage than ZEC. Investors who missed out on the rise in XMR and ZEC may consider smaller privacy coins such as DASH, DCR, and BAT.
Grayscale emphasized that institutions are shifting their attention to assets that offer greater privacy. This trend continues to grow as data breach scandals continue to surface.
The report also predicts that the privacy coin segment will continue to see strong growth in 2026. Integration with DeFi and Web3 applications is expected to drive this expansion.
