Zcash Is Back Among Crypto's 15 Biggest Coins, and It Is a Top-5 Market on Hyperliquid
— By Tony Rabbit in Markets
Privacy coins have quietly become a major category again. We read the data: Zcash (ZEC) trades around $488 for a market cap near $8.2 billion, back among crypto's 15 biggest assets, and on the derivatives exchange Hyperliquid it is a top-5 market with about $178 million of open interest. Monero (XMR) sits near $6.8 billion and is up roughly 9% on the month. Together the two make up around $15 billion of value in a market that has otherwise chopped sideways. After years of being written off, the privacy trade has a pulse again, and the leverage behind ZEC suggests conviction, not just a spot blip.
For years, privacy coins were treated as a fading corner of crypto, delisted by exchanges and left for dead by traders chasing the next narrative. The market has quietly changed its mind. Zcash (ZEC) is trading around $488, worth roughly $8.2 billion, which puts it back among the 15 largest cryptocurrencies. And it is not just a spot story: on the derivatives exchange Hyperliquid, ZEC is a top-5 market by open interest. We read both numbers ourselves, and together they say the privacy trade is not a relic. It is back.
Zcash, holding its ground
A category, not a coin
The comeback is broader than Zcash. Monero (XMR), the other pillar of the privacy sector, is worth about $6.8 billion and is up roughly 9% over the past month, outpacing much of the market. Put ZEC and XMR together and privacy coins represent around $15 billion of value, concentrated in two assets that have been counted out repeatedly and keep coming back. In a market that has spent the summer chopping sideways, a category showing steady, uncorrelated bids stands out.
What makes the current move more credible than past head-fakes is where the interest is showing up. ZEC's roughly $178 million of open interest on Hyperliquid makes it one of the five most-bet markets on a platform where Bitcoin, Ethereum and the exchange's own token dominate the top. Traders are committing leveraged capital, not just parking spot bags, which is a different and firmer kind of conviction.
Why privacy is bid again
Several currents feed the same river. Rising surveillance of on-chain activity, a wave of stablecoin and tokenized-asset launches that are fully transparent by design, and a general fatigue with everything being trackable have all renewed the appeal of assets built to keep transactions private. Zcash's shielded technology and Monero's default privacy are the two most battle-tested answers to that demand, so when the privacy narrative turns, capital tends to funnel into exactly these two names. That is what the market cap and open-interest data are showing now.
The bottom line
Zcash back at a $8.2 billion market cap and a top-15 rank, with meaningful derivatives interest and a resurgent Monero beside it, is not a meme-driven blip; it is the privacy sector reasserting itself as a real category. It remains far below its old highs, and privacy assets carry their own regulatory and liquidity risks. But the numbers are clear: after years of being written off, the privacy trade has a pulse again, and it is worth watching where it goes from here.
Data note. ZEC (about $488, market cap ~$8.2B, rank ~#15, up ~7% over 30 days, roughly 85% below its ~$3,192 all-time high) and XMR (about $361, market cap ~$6.8B, up ~9% over 30 days) figures were read by DEXTools News from CoinGecko on August 3, 2026. ZEC's ~$178M of open interest on Hyperliquid, a top-5 market on the platform, was read from the Hyperliquid API on August 1, 2026. This is information, not financial advice; privacy assets carry regulatory and liquidity risks.
Related reading
- Hyperliquid open interest tops $6.6B: the full market map
- The DEX volume leaderboard, read on-chain
- The 2026 crypto hack tracker
Frequently asked questions
How much is Zcash (ZEC) worth now?
About $488 as of early August 2026, giving Zcash a market capitalization of roughly $8.2 billion and a rank around #15 among all cryptocurrencies, per CoinGecko data read by DEXTools News. That is still about 85% below its all-time high near $3,192, but it makes ZEC one of the larger assets in the market again after years in the wilderness.
Are privacy coins making a comeback?
By the numbers, they have quietly become a major category again. Zcash sits around a $8.2 billion market cap and Monero (XMR) around $6.8 billion, and both are up on the month while much of the market has chopped sideways, with XMR up roughly 9% over 30 days. Privacy is one of the few narratives showing steady bids in an otherwise range-bound market.
Why is Zcash a top market on Hyperliquid?
On the derivatives exchange Hyperliquid, ZEC carries about $178 million of open interest, which places it among the five largest markets on the platform, ahead of most major altcoins. That means traders are putting real leveraged capital behind ZEC, not just spot demand, a sign that the privacy trade has conviction behind it rather than being a quiet backwater.
Is Zcash a good investment?
That is not something we can answer for you, and nothing here is financial advice. What the data shows is that ZEC has re-emerged as a top-15 asset with a multi-billion-dollar market cap and meaningful derivatives interest, and that privacy coins as a group are holding up better than most. As always, privacy assets carry their own regulatory and liquidity risks, so do your own research before acting.