On October 6, 2026, Bitcoin and Ethereum were nearly flat over 24 hours while Zcash (ZEC) and Monero (XMR) posted larger gains. That was a dated market snapshot—not evidence that Bitcoin had stopped moving or that privacy coins had begun a lasting rally. The longer-term figures reported at the time show relative strength, but they do not establish what prices would do next.
What did “Bitcoin falls asleep” mean on October 6?
It described a comparison in daily performance, not a literal pause in Bitcoin trading. Decrypt’s October 6 market report, using CoinGecko data, put Bitcoin at $86,264.06, up 0.59% in the prior 24 hours, and Ethereum at $2,714.39, up 0.34%. In the same snapshot, Monero was $562.32, up 2.14%, while Zcash was up about 3% according to the report’s prose.
Decrypt also reported that ZEC remained roughly 19% below its late-September high of $1,698, and XMR about 11% below its September high of $632.86. The report characterized both as consolidating rather than breaking out. Those prices, returns, and drawdowns belong to that October 6 snapshot; they are not current quotes. A single day of relative outperformance does not by itself show a change in the broader market trend.
Was the move part of a longer privacy-coin rally?
There was broader relative strength in the data available by September, but the figures were historical and should be read with their source and measurement period attached. Bitfinex reported Glassnode data published September 7, 2026, indicating that a privacy-coin basket had risen 90% over the preceding month and more than tripled since Bitcoin’s October 2025 peak. Bitfinex said the basket’s combined market value increased from $7.1 billion to $33.6 billion over a year.
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That basket was concentrated: according to the same Glassnode figures as reported by Bitfinex on September 11, ZEC accounted for more than 60% of its market capitalization and had risen more than 25-fold over the year. The basket excluding ZEC was reported up 85%. Bitfinex also reported that 91.5% of the top 200 crypto assets had risen over the 30 days before its article, while only 25 were above their year-earlier prices. These statistics describe different periods and comparisons; none is a forecast, and the basket’s composition and calculation should not be inferred beyond Bitfinex’s account of Glassnode’s data.
What was associated with Zcash’s rise?
Two events featured in reporting around ZEC’s late-summer and September advance: the launch of a Zcash investment product and a coinholder vote. They are potential parts of the market narrative, not proven causes of the price move.
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The ZCSH product and reported fund flows
Bitfinex reported that Grayscale’s Zcash Trust began trading on NYSE Arca as ZCSH on August 25, 2026. The trust had begun as a private placement in October 2017. Grayscale described ZCSH as the first exchange-traded product offering spot ZEC exposure; that “first” characterization is Grayscale’s, as relayed by Bitfinex.
Bitfinex reported more than $34 million in net inflows during the product’s first two weeks and $12.6 million on September 2. Decrypt later reported $30.25 million in outflows on September 30, while estimating approximately $268 million in net inflows since launch as of its October 6 article. The different dated observations show why short-period fund flows can change direction; they do not demonstrate that flows caused ZEC’s price changes.
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The September 17 holder vote
Decrypt reported that 98.9% of participating ZEC holders favored retaining Bitcoin-style halvings in a September 17 vote. The publication linked the vote and the ZCSH launch to ZEC’s rise from a reported base of $480.72 to the late-September high of $1,698. That is the article’s interpretation of events around the move, not evidence that either event alone produced it.
How Zcash and Monero handle transaction privacy
Zcash and Monero are both associated with financial privacy, but their protocol designs make different trade-offs. Zcash supports transparent transactions as well as shielded transactions. Monero is designed so that privacy protections are built into ordinary network transactions. Neither design means that every user, wallet, transaction context, or exchange interaction is impossible to trace.
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| Question | Zcash (ZEC) | Monero (XMR) |
|---|---|---|
| Is privacy the default for every transaction? | No. Zcash supports both transparent and shielded transaction paths; using the shielded path depends on the address type and software support. | Privacy is a default protocol-design feature rather than an optional transparent-versus-shielded transaction choice. |
| What does the protocol hide? | For shielded transactions, zero-knowledge proofs allow the network to verify a transaction while concealing sender, recipient, and amount. Zcash documentation says shielded addresses and values are not publicly visible, though transaction fees remain visible. | Stealth addresses create a one-time destination for each transaction, and ring signatures make it difficult for an outside observer to identify which possible signer authorized an output. RingCT was implemented to hide amounts. |
| Can information be disclosed selectively? | Viewing keys provide a way to share some transaction information selectively, but support and limitations vary by address type. Zcash documentation notes limitations for Sapling viewing-key support. | Bitfinex describes Monero as having no general viewing key. Do not assume a universal selective-disclosure mechanism equivalent to Zcash’s viewing-key concepts. |
| What is a practical qualification? | A transaction is not shielded merely because it uses ZEC; address choice and wallet support matter. An issuer filing reported that about 31% of ZEC was shielded as of December 31, 2025. That figure comes from Cypherpunk Technologies’ fiscal 2025 annual report filed with the SEC in 2026, and is not independent proof of adoption or utility. | “Privacy by default” describes protocol design, not a guarantee against information exposed by user behavior, endpoints, or an exchange. |
Zcash documentation describes shielded transactions as using zero-knowledge cryptography, while Monero’s project documentation explains its use of stealth addresses and ring signatures. The CFTC-filed 2026 disclosure describes Zcash’s transparent and shielded transaction modes and a maximum supply of 21 million ZEC. Protocol features are distinct from a coin’s market performance.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the Monero activity and access figures do—and do not—show
Bitfinex reported that XMR roughly doubled over the year as of September 2026, while remaining below a January high. It also relayed a TRM Labs finding that Monero transaction volumes in 2024 and 2025 ran above 2020–2021 levels despite restrictions at some venues. This is a secondary report of historical activity, not a real-time measure of current use or a direct explanation for the October 6 price move.
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Monero’s exchange availability has been reduced in some jurisdictions, according to Bitfinex’s September 11 coverage. Availability depends on location and can change, so a general claim that XMR is—or is not—available everywhere would be misleading. Exchange access is separate from the protocol’s privacy design and may affect liquidity and how easily a person can buy or sell an asset.
How to interpret the competing explanations
Bitfinex also pointed to rising concern about financial surveillance and a broader rotation across crypto assets as possible context for interest in privacy coins. Those are reported explanations, not established causal mechanisms. Grayscale’s head of index, Steve Vanourny, said in the ZCSH launch release, as quoted by Bitfinex: “As AI reshapes how financial activity can be monitored, we believe demand for genuine financial privacy will only grow.” That is an executive’s outlook, not a verified forecast.
Quick Recap
- Market performance: Compare returns over clearly stated periods; a one-day gain and a multi-month rally answer different questions.
- Protocol design: Decide whether optional shielded use or privacy-by-default characteristics better match your needs, and check what your wallet actually supports.
- Disclosure and oversight: Consider whether selective disclosure is important and what tools exist for the specific address type or protocol.
- Access and liquidity: Check availability where you live and the conditions on the venue you would use; listings and restrictions can change.
- Risk: Sharp price advances, reversals, and changing fund flows are not evidence of a reliable hedge or a recommendation to buy.
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