Zcash, Dash, Railgun Rip Higher Amid Renewed Interest in 2018-Era Crypto Themes

Privacy Tokens Surge as Market Revisits 2018-Era Themes

Investors are rotating capital back into the privacy sector as broader liquidity searches for fresh narratives, signaling a “back-to-roots” trade reminiscent of the 2017–18 crypto bull cycle.

Privacy-focused tokens have posted strong gains over the past 24 hours, averaging 15% growth, according to CoinGecko. Zcash (ZEC, $233.69) led the surge with a 40% daily gain, pushing its seven-day returns over 85% and making it the top-performing large-cap token.

Other notable movers include Dash (DASH, $44.56), Verge (XVG, $0.00748), Decred (DCR, $19.84), and Tornado Cash (TORN, $15.02), each up 13–35%. Railgun’s RAIL token jumped 117% in a single day, with weekly gains exceeding 300%. Trading volumes are climbing across the sector, with ZEC alone recording $1.1 billion in 24-hour spot turnover.

Bitcoin trades just under $122,000, and Ether sits around $4,350, as majors pause after earlier highs.

Catalysts Behind the Rally
Monero (XMR) remains a core privacy play, boosted by its “Fluorine Fermi” update enhancing privacy against spy nodes. Railgun’s surge reflects renewed interest in shielded smart contract transactions, while Zcash’s gains are supported by Zashi wallet integrations enabling cross-chain shielded swaps. Dash’s jump reflects renewed attention on its payments branding amid stablecoin regulation debates.

The flows suggest longer-term positioning around regulatory narratives. Multi-day strength indicates this is more than a short-term spike. Historically, privacy tokens rally during periods of heightened surveillance or compliance concerns. Today, a U.S. government shutdown, dovish central bank policies, and renewed financial censorship debates provide a similar backdrop, aligning privacy assets with Bitcoin’s hedge narrative.