Zcash slumps 20% and Monero price struggles as GHOST surges

A shake-up in the privacy-coin market has pushed Zcash down, lifted Monero briefly, and sent GhostwareOS’s GHOST soaring on the back of its new GhostPay launch.

The privacy coin sector is in complete turmoil. The Zcash price, one of the year’s best climbers, took a sudden downturn, losing over 20% in a week. Monero, another large-cap coin, has made a speedy comeback, but analysts are skeptical about its continuity. Meanwhile, GhostwareOS (GHOST) is making waves with the recent GhostPay launch, which has increased the GHOST token by 33% and its market cap by $3 million.

Privacy coins have carved out a niche in the ever-expanding crypto market. Their rise is fueled by a growing demand for better privacy and anonymity solutions. Zcash and Monero have established themselves as frontrunners in the race to meet that demand. However, GhostwareOS is rising to the challenge by consistently launching innovative new features, such as GhostPay. This approach makes GHOST a solid contender for the niche’s top spots.

The GhostPay launch pushes GHOST in overdrive

GhostPay launched on November 26 as the latest module in GhostwareOS’ privacy-focused ecosystem. The event caused the GHOST token to increase from $0.075 to $0.0104 within hours. Also, the project’s market cap surged from $7 million to $10 million. While market pressure has slightly corrected these values over the past few hours, sentiment around GHOST remains positive.

So, why has GhostPay had such a powerful impact?

GhostPay allows users to mask their wallet addresses and complete transactions without revealing any personal information. It is a privacy cloak that helps creators, developers, and freelancers get paid safely and anonymously.

Despite operating on the Solana blockchain, a network renowned for its transparency, GhostPay can keep transaction details completely private and untraceable. In fact, the app is entirely client-side and runs on top of Solana’s standard transaction system.

Here’s how it works under the hood:

GhostPay uses Stealth Addresses to hide the receiver’s actual wallet. It also protects all transaction metadata with advanced Hybrid Public Key Encryption (HPKE).

The app then reroutes payments through multiple relays to remove traceability thanks to Tx ShadowNet, a private routing network within the GhostwareOS ecosystem. Lastly, GhostPay employs Multi-Party Computation (MPC) to prevent nodes from deanonymizing or reconstructing the route.

Above the hood, the process is even more straightforward. GhostPay generates a unique, one-time payment link and a QR code every time a receiver requests payment. The sender clicks the link and initiates the transfer, which completes automatically without revealing any details about the wallets involved. The system then discards the one-time link, removing any traceability.

GhostPay makes the whole process easy to navigate, even for beginners. Moreover, it offers QR integration to facilitate mobile payments. For now, the system supports private transactions in SOL.

Why is the ZEC price dropping?

Zcash has held the headlines for most of 2025 as the best-performing privacy coin. In fact, the ZEC price has increased by over 800% since the beginning of the year. This upward trend helped its market cap also increase by over 760%, reaching as high as $11.6 million in mid-November.

Around the same time, the Zcash price reached this year’s high of nearly $700. However, it went downhill fast from there. In the past week, ZEC dropped by over 20%, reaching around $495. However, the drop doesn’t seem to stop there as the coin is bleeding by the hour.

These price analytics show that the ZEC price has likely been in overvalued territory for most of the year. As traders cash in on their profits, ZEC’s downward trajectory will continue.

Is the XMR price ready to recover?

The Monero price is steadily recovering after a months-long dip. The coin has seen an 8% weekly increase, bringing its value to around $390. In 2025, the XMR price rose by 146%.

However, that ride was not as smooth as it looked. The Monero price often dropped below the $200 support line, suggesting that traders view it as a potential quick-return option.

What crypto to buy now

Zcash has been on the rise for most of the year. However, the hype around it is fading, and the coin may not recover from its sudden decline before year-end.

While the XMR price is steadily rising, analysts remain skeptical about its near future. Monero benefits from the increased demand for privacy-focused cryptocurrencies. However, despite being the oldest privacy coin in the crypto market, its progress has been slow over the years. A lack of innovation and a large market cap have often pushed traders toward newer privacy coins, such as GHOST.

GHOST is surging thanks to innovative new features, such as GhostPay, which prove the project’s commitment to making privacy a fundamental feature of blockchain transactions. The coin has long-term potential and a low market cap, which provides ideal entry points for traders.