Analysis: Zcash's market value surpasses Monero, potentially signaling a power shift in the privacy coin landscape

According to CoinDesk, the privacy-focused cryptocurrency Zcash (ZEC) has surpassed the long-dominant Monero (XMR) in market capitalization, which may signify a power shift in the privacy coin sector. ZEC's market cap first exceeded XMR last Friday, remaining above its predecessor for several hours after a nearly 50% increase in the previous seven days.

Throughout the weekend, ZEC maintained its lead, with its market cap reaching as high as $7.2 billion, while XMR hovered around $6.3 billion. Recently, both have had market caps of approximately $6.4 billion. Zcash was launched in 2016, while Monero was created in 2014.

The biggest difference between the two lies in their privacy mechanisms: Zcash employs an optional privacy mode, allowing users to choose between transparent or encrypted (shielded) transactions; Monero has all transactions encrypted by default, lacking any choice. This flexibility makes Zcash more readily accepted by traders and institutions, especially those looking to balance privacy with compliance. In contrast, Monero has been delisted from several mainstream trading platforms due to anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) issues.