Grayscale’s Cryptic Picks: Zcash & Co. in Privacy’s Shadow 🕵️♂️💰

by

In the shadow of capital’s relentless march, investors now choose altcoins with the solemnity of a man selecting a coffin-each coin a tomb for their hopes. Zcash (ZEC), that sly fox of privacy, dances through market fear like a drunkard through a hurricane, leaving others to wonder if it’s madness or genius.

The latest Grayscale missives whisper of ZEC’s unwavering resolve, even as December’s frost nipped at its heels. Some metrics, like a miser counting coins, turned positively gleeful. One might say the ZEC faithful are either mad-or simply ahead of the curve. 😉

Zcash Shield Pool Reaches a New All-Time High

Behold, the Zcash Shield Pool! According to zkp.baby’s chronicles, it now hoards over 5 million ZEC, a third of the circulating supply. This isn’t just a pool-it’s a monastic order of secrecy, where ZECs are shrouded like sacred relics. One might call it the Vatican of privacy, minus the papal infallibility. 🙃

And yet, November’s calm before the storm-when ZEC plummeted 60%-did little to rattle the faithful. They remained as steadfast as a drunkard clinging to a lamppost. But December? Oh, the price rebounded 70%, and the Shield Pool set a new high, as if to say, “We knew all along.” Arthur Hayes, that mad prophet of BitMEX, declared:

“The tears of the bears shall be my sustenance. ZEC first stop $1,000.” – A man who once bet on a bear market now winks at bulls, 😈 his grin wider than a Cheshire cat’s.

This triumph of privacy over chaos is no mere financial feat-it’s a philosophical rebellion. In an age of surveillance, Zcash is the digital equivalent of a locked diary. Or, as some might say, the modern man’s only hope of keeping secrets from his mother-in-law. 📚🔐

Grayscale Highlights Six Privacy-Focused Altcoins

Grayscale, that titan of crypto, has crowned six privacy coins as Q4 2025’s darlings. Zcash leads the pack, not just in privacy but in the entire Top 20 universe. One might call it the “Chosen One” of DeFi, though it’s less a chosen one and more a chosen scoundrel. 🤭

“Among the Top 20 performers were Zcash (ZEC), Monero (XMR), Dash (DASH), Decred (DCR), Basic Attention Token (BAT), and Beldex (BDX),” Grayscale proclaimed, as if bestowing sainthood on six digital hermits.

XMR, that old warhorse, still outpaces ZEC in on-chain usage. But for those who missed the XMR/ZEC train, Grayscale offers smaller-cap alternatives like DASH and BAT-privacy’s “also-rans,” but perhaps the next big thing. Or, as history might say, the next big nothing. 🚂💨

Grayscale’s report, with its talk of institutional interest and data breaches, reads like a modern-day Faustian bargain. Institutions, once the guardians of transparency, now seek the shadows of privacy. A world where even your bank can’t see your secrets? It’s enough to make a man weep-or at least Google “how to hide my crypto from the IRS.” 😅

The future, they say, is privacy. And with DeFi and Web3 as its allies, the privacy coin segment will bloom in 2026. One can only hope the flowers are as beautiful as they are deadly. After all, in the garden of finance, the most fragrant blooms often have thorns. 🌹🪒

Read More

2025-12-30 14:55