Privacy coins outperformed the broader cryptocurrency market in September as capital moved away from weaker high-cap altcoins. Zcash (ZEC) rose more than 64%, climbing from just under $860 on Sept. 1 to $1,687.78 on Sept. 27 before closing at $1,393 on Sept. 30. Its market capitalization briefly exceeded $20 billion, returning ZEC to the top 10 digital assets, while its year-to-date gain reached 170%. NEAR posted a 166% monthly increase after breaking above $5 on Sept. 27, with momentum tied to speculation around Bitwise’s proposed ETF and adoption of the NEAR Intents cross-chain transaction framework. Bitwise launched the fund on Sept. 29, which the source says is expected to support NEAR’s trajectory into the fourth quarter. Litecoin rose 37%, NIGHT gained 135% and Dash increased 30%, while Monero advanced 3%. Zano fell 20% in September after a 30-day blockchain rollback to repair an inflation bug, extending its year-to-date decline to 40% on Oct. 1.