Why is XMR up today? Monero rallies as Zcash loses trust

Monero’s XMR token rose by over 2.54% in the last 24 hours, extending its 7-day rally to approximately over 60.21%.

After the mass resignation of Electric Coin Company developers on the 7th of January, Zcash’s ZEC token slipped hard.

Governance concerns escalated while confidence cracked. As a result, ZEC dropped between 15% and 26% in a single week.

Meanwhile, Monero moved the other way. XMR surged over 40%.

More importantly, it reclaimed the top spot among privacy coins by market capitalization with a marketcap of approximately $13 billion.

This divergence was not random. Capital rotated decisively out of Zcash [ZEC] and into Monero [XMR]. Investors favored stability, liquidity, and a cleaner narrative.

Monero leads as the market weighs continuation

At press time, XMR was trading at around $708. Monero pushed out of its long base near $420 with a sharp rise in volume.

Buyers acted with conviction. Momentum funds followed quickly. As a result, price sliced through $594 and $643 with little resistance.

However, RSI surged above 85, reflecting strong trend control rather than immediate weakness. This move aligns with capital rotation across the privacy sector.

That strength aligned with the uncertainty surrounding Zcash. Investors gravitated toward the most established privacy asset.

As a result, Monero reasserted sector leadership. Still, stretched momentum increased the risk of pauses or shallow pullbacks.

With the higher timeframe setting direction, lower timeframes clarified execution risk. On the one-hour chart, price topped near $798 before cooling toward the $700 zone.

Profit-taking emerged. Short-term traders locked in gains. RSI slipped toward neutral, allowing momentum to reset.

Despite this pullback, structure remained intact. Former resistance at $643 now acts as support as buyers continue to defend that zone.

If it holds, upside continuation stays viable. However, if it breaks, a retracement toward $594 becomes likely.

Is this the privacy season?

Privacy coin rotation accelerated between the 7th of January  and mid-January 2026, marking it as a  clear “privacy season.”

During this period, Monero rallied from roughly $420 to near $800, gaining over 40% in a week.

Its market capitalization expanded from about $9.2 billion to nearly $13 billion, implying roughly $3.5-$4 billion in net capital absorption.

This wasn’t an anomaly, the move was sector-wide. Dash [DASH]surged around 54%, adding an estimated $400-$500 million in market value, while smaller privacy tokens rose  by around 20%.

Still, flows concentrated heavily in XMR making it the dominant privacy coin.

Zcash’s decline accelerated the shift, pushing capital toward Monero as the most liquid and resilient privacy asset.

All this together, Monero’s surge reflects a structural rotation, not noise. Capital exited Zcash and concentrated into XMR, driving a clear privacy season.

Momentum can continue if key support holds, but a breakdown would signal exhaustion and a pause in the sector-wide rally.

Final Thoughts

• Monero’s breakout above $594 and $643 confirmed a regime shift, with price sustaining strength after a 60%+ weekly rally.
• The move signals a privacy season led by XMR, but continuation depends on support holding and inflows remaining organic rather than leverage-driven.