The privacy coin sector grew from $11.97 billion on April 9, 2026, to $36.51 billion as of Thursday, adding roughly $24.54 billion, or about 205%, in five months. Zcash (ZEC) and monero (XMR) accounted for most of the increase, with their market capitalizations rising by $20.27 billion and $4.33 billion, respectively. ZEC climbed from $319 to $1,507, while XMR rose from $330 to $555. Demand has been supported by intensified blockchain surveillance in 2026 after criminals and sanctioned countries, including North Korea, Iran and Russia, allegedly moved more than $154 billion in illicit crypto transfers during 2025. Privacy coins are designed to make transactions harder to trace than those on open networks such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. ZEC also benefited from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) closing its investigation without recommending enforcement against the Zcash Foundation. Grayscale subsequently converted its nine-year-old Zcash Trust into the ZCSH spot ETF, which began trading on NYSE Arca on Aug. 25, 2026, as the first U.S.-listed spot ETF for a privacy coin. SEC filings show DCG acquired roughly $100 million of ETF shares in exchange for ZEC on Sept. 8, 2026. The report suggests a successful privacy coin ETF could encourage products tied to XMR and other privacy tokens, while institutional participation may intensify debate over viewing keys and compliance backdoors.