Zcash surged 37% in a day, leading a rally in privacy coins after Multicoin Capital revealed a significant investment. The surge is attributed to wealth tax fears and proposed asset seizures in California.
Key points
Zcash surged by 37% in a day
Multicoin Capital disclosed a significant investment in Zcash
The privacy coin sector is rallying due to wealth tax fears
California proposed asset seizures impacting crypto investments
Privacy coin Zcash surged by double digits over the past day, alongside the broader privacy coin category.
Multicoin has built a ZEC position since February, calling Zcash the "cleanest way" to express the privacy thesis.
Dash also jumped as the privacy coin sector rallied on wealth tax fears and California's proposed asset seizures.
Zcash led a surge in privacy-focused cryptocurrencies on Wednesday, jumping 37% in the past 24 hours after crypto investment firm Multicoin Capital disclosed that it had built a "significant position" in the privacy coin.
The rally follows a Tuesday tweet thread by investment firm Multicoin's Cofounder and Managing Partner Tushar Jain, calling Zcash a "return to the cypherpunk ideals crypto was founded on."
1/ Multicoin has built a significant position in $ZEC since February.
Zcash is a return to the cypherpunk ideals crypto was founded on.
Privacy coins Dash and Monero added 22% and 4% on the day respectively, while the category as a whole has notched roughly 15% gains, according to CoinGecko data.
Why privacy coins are moving
Multicoin framed the thesis around growing political risks to public wealth.
“California's proposed wealth seizures are a warning,” the firm wrote. “As the political trend to seize private wealth continues to grow, people and institutions will increasingly seek private assets to protect themselves.”
Q&A
What caused Zcash to surge by 37%?
Zcash's surge was driven by Multicoin Capital's significant investment and growing concerns over wealth taxes and asset seizures.
Who is Multicoin Capital and what is their position on Zcash?
Multicoin Capital is a crypto investment firm that has built a significant position in Zcash, calling it the 'cleanest way' to express the privacy thesis.
What are the implications of California's proposed asset seizures on privacy coins?
California's proposed asset seizures have raised concerns that could drive more investors towards privacy coins like Zcash and Dash.
How does Zcash compare to other privacy coins like Dash?
Zcash has recently outperformed other privacy coins, including Dash, during the current rally in the privacy coin sector.
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Bitcoin offers censorship resistance; no one can freeze it or stop a user from transacting. That does not protect investors against wealth taxes or seizure of known holdings, Multicoin argues.
“We believe that truly private, censorship and seizure-resistant assets have clear product-market fit and demand is accelerating,” Jain said. “We believe Zcash is the cleanest way to express this thesis in public markets.”
Zcash is currently trading at around $570, retracing from Wednesday’s $593 local top—and this is not the first time the token has embarked on an explosive rally. Over two weeks, the privacy coin has surged 77% and a staggering 1,485% over the past year.
Zcash's turbulent journey
But the path to this point has been anything but smooth.
Zcash’s journey has been tumultuous, starting with a crisis in January after the entire development team behind the token, the Electric Coin Company, resigned, citing “constructive discharge” by the board.
Yet even amid that turmoil, the privacy narrative was already building. The EU's DAC8 directive, requiring crypto service providers to collect user tax data on January 1, fanned the flames for a privacy sector comeback. Dubai’s ban on privacy tokens across trading, promotion, and fund activity in its financial free zone also added a tailwind to the privacy coin narrative
The sector's growth has been spurred on by tweets from the likes of American entrepreneur Naval Ravikant and Helius co-founder and CEO Mert Mumtaz.
“Bitcoin is insurance against fiat. Zcash is insurance against Bitcoin,” Ravikanth said in an October tweet.
Tim Sun, senior researcher at HashKey Group, told Decrypt that the recent surge represents a continuation of a privacy narrative that first gained traction in late 2025. “Multicoin's decision to increase its holdings is more than just an institutional purchase of ZEC,” Sun said. “It serves to redefine privacy coins as an investment theme tied to personal financial sovereignty, censorship resistance, and autonomous asset control.”
He added that censorship resistance will likely become a recurring hot topic in the next cycle, acting as a direct catalyst for price action.
Sun also offered a key clarification: demand for privacy does not always translate directly to token prices. “The rise in privacy coins reflects a market repricing of the privacy narrative rather than a synchronized, massive increase in the actual usage of these privacy tools,” he said.
Despite the privacy sector’s liftoff, the altcoin market outlook remains the same—pessimistic. On prediction market Myriad, owned by Decrypt's parent company Dastan, users put the likelihood of an “alt season” starting before July at just 13%, down from 21% on May 1.
The privacy coin sector has historically moved in sharp bursts followed by extended consolidations. Whether this rally sustains depends on whether institutional investors follow Multicoin's lead or treat the move as a one-off.
