This Is the Only Crypto Sector Still Above Bitcoin's Peak

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One crypto sector never gave back its gains, even as everything else around it did.

Privacy coins now sit 213% above their level from Bitcoin’s October 6, 2025 all-time high, according to Glassnode’s data.

This Is the Only Crypto Sector Still Above Bitcoin's Peak — *Image Via Glassnode.*

Every other sector Glassnode tracks remains underwater from that same peak.

The Gap Between Privacy and Everything Else

Bitcoin itself is still 36% below its October high, 335 days later. The median asset among the top 200 cryptocurrencies sits 58% lower. DeFi is down 27%. Layer 1s are down 46%.

AI tokens are down 42%. RWAs, memecoins, Layer 2s, DePIN, and gaming are all deeply negative too, with gaming the worst performer at -74%. Privacy stands completely alone on the other side of zero.

Techgaged was tracking Bitcoin right as that peak took shape, publishing analysis just two days before the top that pointed to a possible run toward $139,000 if key support held.

It didn’t hold, and Bitcoin has spent the better part of a year working back from that turn.

Zcash Is Doing Most of the Heavy Lifting

ZEC accounts for roughly 62% of the entire privacy sector’s market cap. The token has returned 2,496% year to date, climbing from the 82nd-largest crypto asset to 7th place.

Techgaged tracked the darkest point in this same Zcash story back in June, when ZEC crashed more than 44% in 24 hours after a vulnerability surfaced in its shielded pool, a crash that makes this recovery look even more dramatic in hindsight.

But This Isn’t Only a Zcash Story

Strip ZEC out entirely, and the privacy basket is still up 85% over the year and 56% since Bitcoin’s October peak.

All eight privacy assets with at least a year of trading history posted gains over that stretch. Monero doubled in price.

Dash and Horizen both outpaced Bitcoin over the trailing 90 days.

Only four assets among the top 25 cryptocurrencies overall sit above their October 6 prices, and two of those four, ZEC and XMR, are privacy coins.

Bitcoin’s Chart Tells a Rougher Story

BTC trades at $78,276.49 as of 11:14 UTC on September 8, 2026, down 1.02% on the week.

The weekly MACD line reads 2,515.45, still working against a negative signal line, with the histogram only beginning to turn positive after a long stretch in the red.

The weekly Parabolic SAR has flipped below price recently, a tentative bullish signal, but Bitcoin remains well below the resistance zone it broke down from last October.

What This Divergence Actually Means

Privacy’s outperformance isn’t a broad market signal, it’s a narrow one. Regulatory scrutiny around privacy-focused assets hasn’t gone away, and a sector this concentrated in one token carries real single-asset risk if ZEC’s momentum stalls.

But a sector standing 213% above a cycle peak that everything else is still recovering from is the kind of divergence that tends to draw fresh capital chasing the trend, whether or not the fundamentals justify it holding.

Disclaimer:
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or trading advice. The views expressed are based on publicly available data, market observations, and the author’s interpretation at the time of writing. Cryptocurrency markets are highly volatile and unpredictable, and past performance or current technical setups do not guarantee future results. Readers should conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. TechGaged does not accept liability for any losses incurred based on the information presented.

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