XMR, the native asset of privacy-focused Monero blockchain, surged to a new all-time high of $592 on Sunday in a move that has revived the privacy coin market, which has largely been on the sidelines of the latest crypto rally.
This is the first time in nearly a decade that the coin achieved an ATH. The last time XMR was trading at a similar level was following a breakout to $542 in January 2018. According to CoinGecko data, Monero is up 24% on the day and 40% over the past week.
XMR Surges To ATH As Monero Fixes Critical Issues To Lead Privacy Coin Rally
The move extends a niche trend that began towards the end of last year, when privacy coins proved to be much more resilient to volatility than the broader crypto market. Q4 2025 saw investors rotate capital back into these digital assets, with Zcash (ZEC) drawing most of the attention. However, during this time, Monero faced significant technical difficulties, such as undergoing its largest block reorganization in 12 years, and criticism surrounding mining centralization.
In September, the network underwent a rollback of 18 blocks, which rendered 117 transactions invalid. The reorganization began at block #3499569 after the Qubic mining pool released a hidden chain that turned out to be longer than the Monero mainnet, resulting in network nodes automatically accepting it as correct and cancelling previous blocks.
Blockchain researcher “Rucknium” was the first to identify the incident, blaming Qubic for looking for ways to “stay relevant and to stop the bleeding of their dumping price.” He noted that Monero will have to sacrifice decentralization to counteract the mining pool’s influence, suggesting that node operators are likely to start using Domain Name System (DNS) checkpoints – a mechanism that enables nodes to download verified block data from trusted community servers – as a temporary solution to prevent similar events in the future.
Back in August, the Qubic team claimed that it had captured a significant portion of the blockchain’s network hashrate. This led to researchers refuting a 51% attack on Monero, and the community exploring the possibility of upgrading its proof-of-work (PoW) consensus algorithm, even as the incident ultimately failed to disrupt the protocol’s operation. At the time, prominent crypto analyst ‘Vini Barbosa’ questioned the reliability of Monero and stopped accepting XMR payments until developers resolved the issue.
Zcash (ZEC) Price Plummets 15% As Key Development Team Leaves Project After Clash With Board Members
However, this situation has been flipped dramatically, as XMR’s main rival in the privacy coin market, ZEC, saw its price plummet by 15% in 24 hours after the news surfaced that the entire Electronic Coin Company (ECC) team, the primary developer of Zcash, left due to internal conflict with the board of directors of their parent company, Bootstrap. ECC CEO Josh Swihart noted that most Bootstrap board members acted contrary to the mission of the entire Zcash team to continue to develop its privacy-focused digital currency.
Swihart said,
“Non-profit organizations engage in red tape, while tech startups rewrite the rules,”
The developers of Zcash have revealed plans to establish a new company that maintains their commitment to the goal of creating “unstoppable private money.” The sudden exit of the core team has cast doubt on its roadmap and development coordination, resulting in its rally coming to a halt and triggering a market-wide sell-off due to fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD).
The root cause of the rift between ECC and Bootstrap was an attempt to monetise the protocol, including the privatisation of Monero’s flagship wallet Zashi. The non-profit’s board blocked both these proposals, fearing that they would become liable to legal and corporate risks. ECC has already announced the launch of an alternate wallet, called CashZ, which is based on Zashi’s code. The departing team has promised a simple migration process for users, while suggesting that the protocol won’t be affected by the changes and will continue to operate as usual.
Swihart said.
“This decision was made solely to protect our team’s work from malicious actions by the management, which made it impossible to fulfil ECC’s original mission,”
ZEC has since slid to the $440 range, which is significantly lower than its all-time high of $720 from November 2025.
Analyst Says XMR Rally Needs To Be Viewed Cautiously As Liquidity Is Concentrated On Smaller Exchanges
Ryan McMillin, chief investment officer at crypto fund manager Merkle Tree Capital, told Decrypt that XMR’s move to a new ATH fits with the narrative that the market has been seeing in the privacy segment for a while, with the niche being one of the few areas that held up relatively well through Q4 2025.
However, he still warned that Monero’s price action should be viewed through a market-structure lens, as many privacy coins are prohibited from being listed on more regulated, onshore exchanges. This leaves trading activity concentrated on a smaller number of offshore venues. The analyst noted that when a token’s liquidity is on smaller platforms, its price discovery can be more “fragmented,” increasing the scope for sharper swings and potential price manipulation. McMillin said he’d be more cautious about “over-interpreting” short-term market moves without taking into account where the trading volume is coming from.
While near-term trading dynamics remain positive for XMR, supporters of privacy coins point fingers at a longer-term demand driver. Global governments are tightening restrictions on the use of cash and are increasing oversight of payments outside the traditional banking system – two catalysts that are driving investors towards privacy assets.
At the time of writing, Monero (XMR) is trading at $573.46 – up 19.85% in 24 hours.
