Zcash's Privacy Surge and DEX Boom Signal Crypto's Maturing Market Prioritizing User Control

Electric Coin Co. (ECC), the firm behind Zcash (ZEC), announced a 198.92% price increase for the privacy coin, which traded at around $420 as of mid-November 2025, up from $50 in mid-September, according to The Block. This surge coincided with a significant rise in shielded supply, with over 4.1 million tokens now secured via Zcash's Orchard protocol. The growth reflects heightened demand for zero-knowledge proof-powered transactions, as users increasingly prioritize privacy in a regulatory-uncertain market.

ECC's Q4 2025 roadmap aims to enhance Zcash's utility and privacy features. Key initiatives include integrating ephemeral addresses for swaps via the NEAR Intents protocol, improving hardware wallet usability for Keystone users, and adopting Pay-to-Script-Hash (P2SH) multisig wallets, the Block report says. These updates follow the recent launch of Zashi's decentralized on-ramp and off-ramp features, which have streamlined shielded ZEC transactions. The roadmap also emphasizes reducing technical debt and refining developer fund management, positioning Zcash to capitalize on its growing market share against competitors like Monero.

Meanwhile, decentralized exchanges (DEXs) saw record activity, with perpetual DEXs processing $1.36 trillion in October, a 79% increase from August's $759 billion, as Yahoo Finance reported. Hyperliquid led the charge with $299 billion in volume, followed by Lighter and Aster with $265.4 billion and $259.9 billion, respectively. The shift toward DEXs is driven by traders seeking transparency and lower fees, as well as regulatory concerns surrounding centralized exchanges (CEXs). This trend aligns with broader market dynamics, including a 20% rise in DEX-to-CEX spot trade volume share since 2024.

Ethereum's stablecoin ecosystem also reached a milestone, with $2.82 trillion in monthly transaction volume—led by USDC ($1.62 trillion) and USDT ($895.5 billion)—as investors sought stable assets amid market volatility, Yahoo Finance reported. Uniswap dominated DEX activity with $170.9 billion in October volume, underscoring its role as a key liquidity hub.

Notably, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) contributed to crypto market turbulence after receiving a presidential pardon from Donald Trump, who later denied knowing the executive, according to BeInCrypto. CZ's subsequent $2 million purchase of ASTER tokens—a DEX token—sparked a 20% price jump, according to CryptoNews.

As the crypto landscape evolves, Zcash's privacy innovations and DEX-led trading activity signal a maturing market prioritizing user control and security. However, regulatory and macroeconomic headwinds, including Trump's energy policies and the Federal Reserve's rate trajectory, remain critical risks for asset prices.