Privacy-focused cryptocurrencies shine early in 2026. The three crypto assets with the highest weekly gains among the top 100 market capitalizations belong to this category.
These are DASH, Decrid (DCR), and Monero (XMR), as shown in the list below.
Price rise of privacy-focused cryptocurrencies As stricter regulations are enforced in Europe and the Middle East, This has put privacy back at the center of the digital asset discussion.
On January 1, 2026, the European Union’s DAC8 directive came into effect, requiring virtual currency service providers to collect and report tax data from their users. Meanwhile, Dubai has explicitly prohibited the use of privacy tokens and obfuscation tools within its regulatory framework.
The fact that cryptocurrencies focused on anonymizing users are gaining prominence in such contexts reinforces the idea that privacy is seen as an important characteristic.
What happened to Zcash?
Before reviewing the evolution of these networks, It’s worth highlighting what happened with zcash (ZEC).a privacy-focused cryptocurrency that saw an 800% price increase during 2025. But 2026 started out differently.
As reported by CriptoNoticias, the resignation of Electric Coin Company’s entire developer team following disagreements with the Bootstrap organization’s board of directors has put the uncertainty around ZEC in sharp focus, reducing market confidence in the project’s continuity.
The following graph shows ZEC’s rise over the last year and its decline following the adverse events mentioned here.
Monero hits all-time high
This scenario led some of the capital to migrate to Monero, the most recognized and reputable privacy-focused cryptocurrency on the market. This asset provides higher guarantees in terms of security and stability Thanks to the development efforts maintained by the decentralized community. This is a structure that reduces internal risks and avoids conflicts like the one facing ZEC today.
Unlike Zcash, Monero features a more decentralized security base. According to monerohash.com, the network has 2,357 active public nodes.
In contrast, Zcash has 1,723 registered nodes and relies on a small number of large pools for its operation, increasing the risk of hashrate concentration and relative centralization.
When it comes to mining, XMR hashrate remains in the 2.5-3 GH/s range, driven by the RandomX algorithm, which is designed to prioritize CPU mining and limit concentration to large operators. This approach reduces centralization risks and increases network resiliency.
Additionally, Monero development is not dependent on a single company. The protocol is funded through the Community Crowdfunding System (CCS), a mechanism that allows the community to directly fund independent developers.
During 2025, the ecosystem supported 4-6 full-time developers and regular contributors without a centralized corporate structure.
As a result, XMR is having a great week. Up over 60% in the past 7 days. Under these circumstances, on January 14th, the price hit a new all-time high of $798.
Regarding Monero’s recent developments, the Full Chain Membership Testing (FCMP++) update is already in beta, incorporating quantum-resistance improvements, as well as enhancing transaction privacy and scalability.
This preview builds on the October Fluorine Fermi update. Eliminated vulnerabilities related to so-called spy nodes.. These are malicious nodes that attempt to observe or infer sensitive information from transactions in order to violate user privacy.
DASH and Rise of the Meteor
But Monero won’t be the only privacy-focused cryptocurrency that stands out in early 2026.
At the same time, by trading at lower absolute prices and offering privacy features, DASH has emerged as an alternative with greater risk and potential for traders, positioning itself as an option that offers the opportunity to generate greater profits (albeit more volatile) for those left behind from XMR’s initial bullish leg.
In the past 7 days, Dash’s price has increased from $38 to $84.20. This corresponds to an increase of 121%.
On January 13, Dash announced a partnership with Alchemy Pay, a payments platform that connects traditional money and cryptocurrencies, enabling access in 173 countries across more than 300 payment methods.
Add to this the speculative interest in a new platform, Evolution, aimed at improving user experience and network deployment, scheduled for Q1 2026.
Decredo also joins the bullish wave
At the same time, we must also highlight DCR’s impressive performance, which has seen a price increase of over 68.9% over the past 7 days.
The recent rise in assets is partially explained by improved governance that strengthens the project. On-chain voting allowed us to enable changes that strengthen the protocol’s security and sustain development through strong finances.
In addition to this, over 60% of DCR is staked, reducing the available supply in the market, which has historically been a factor in accelerating price increases as adoption increases.
