Privacy-focused cryptocurrencies climbed despite a broader market drop that liquidated nearly $1 billion in positions, with analysts citing regulatory pressures and laundering activity as key drivers.
Monero rose 8.3% while Dash gained 1.9% over 24 hours, with the privacy coin category up 4% daily and 13.1% weekly, according to CoinGecko data.
Bitcoin dropped 2.3% while most altcoins fell 3% to 10% during the same period.
DUSK surged 118% in 24 hours and 354% weekly, leading smaller-cap privacy tokens.
What Happened
The rally gained momentum after on-chain investigator ZachXBT flagged a $282 million theft where attackers converted stolen Bitcoin and Litecoin into Monero through multiple instant exchanges.
The massive conversion volume pushed Monero's price to an all-time high near $798 Thursday before pulling back to around $644.
Dash is trading at $81.61, up 119% weekly, following an Alchemy Pay partnership providing fiat on-ramp access in 173 countries.
Zcash proved the exception, falling 6.8% daily and 6% weekly after the entire Electric Coin Company development team resigned January 7, citing "constructive discharge" by the board.
Read also: Crypto Funds Record $2.17B Weekly Inflows Before Friday's $378M Reversal
Why It Matters
Rachel Lin, CEO of SynFutures, noted a "broader re-rating happening across the privacy sector," driven by intensifying global regulations and heightened on-chain surveillance requirements.
The EU's DAC8 directive, which began requiring crypto service providers to collect user tax data January 1, reignited demand for privacy features, while Dubai's financial regulator explicitly banned privacy tokens across trading, promotion and derivatives.
"Privacy coins tend to move counter-cyclically during periods of heightened uncertainty," said Shivam Thakral, CEO of Indian exchange BuyUCoin, highlighting defensive positioning rather than speculative excess.
Capital rotation from troubled Zcash toward decentralized alternatives like Monero and Dash contributed to the rally, with 14 of 18 privacy tokens exceeding $100 million market capitalization posting gains since January 1.
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