Can It Outperform $ZEC & $XMR Price?

$GHOST has returned over 400% in recent days as traders have become increasingly bullish on the GhostWareOS privacy solution toolkit. The surge in buying activity followed announcements surrounding GhostSwap and a Lookonchain tweet revealing that a $PENGUIN whale had rotated profits into $GHOST. Together, these developments helped place GhostwareOS firmly back on traders’ radars.

This rally has stood in sharp contrast to performance across legacy crypto privacy coins such as Zcash and Monero, which have struggled to attract sustained momentum. While interest in privacy remains present, capital has not flowed evenly across the sector.

The XMR price has fallen from above $780 to below $500, while the Zcash price has dropped from around $700 to under $400. These declines highlight the broader weakness affecting legacy privacy coins.

Despite these conditions, $GHOST has delivered outsized returns. There are several reasons behind this divergence, which are important to understand when assessing the longer-term trend.

$GHOST Surges Following Lookonchain Tweet

The $GHOST chart shows that several resistance levels were broken within a matter of hours. There are a couple of reasons for this unexpected rally, which has pushed the token’s market capitalization from under $2 million to around $8 million. The speed of the move suggests strong conviction rather than gradual accumulation.

One key factor is that GhostwareOS has continued to build through periods of price weakness. Even when the token was under pressure, the team delivered the successful launch of GhostPay and later announced plans for GhostSwap. This consistent execution has helped reposition GHOST as a longer-term project rather than a short-lived trade.

Another major catalyst was a Lookonchain post highlighting capital rotation out of the $PENGUIN memecoin and into $GHOST. The data showed that a $PENGUIN whale redirected profits into GhostwareOS, reinforcing the idea that traders are shifting from meme-driven plays into utility-focused infrastructure.

Following the rally, support appears to have formed around the $7 million market cap level. Holding this zone could be important for maintaining momentum, especially if it correlates with the Zcash price and Monero price dipping.

$GHOST price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

ZEC Price Struggles

The ZEC price has dropped by nearly 30% over the past month. This follows an exceptional 2025 for the privacy coin, during which ZEC outperformed most large-cap crypto assets and reached an all-time high close to $700.

One factor behind the pullback is likely profit-taking. Traders who held through the prolonged 2022–2024 ZEC bear market secured substantial gains last year and have begun reducing exposure as momentum cooled.

Another issue has been disruption within the Zcash developer structure. Recent changes were poorly received by the community, and since then, the price has struggled to establish firm support, adding further pressure during the pullback.

From a relative valuation perspective, Zcash still carries a market capitalization of roughly $6 billion, while GhostwareOS sits near $8 million. This gap helps explain why some privacy-focused traders are gravitating toward smaller-cap projects, where perceived upside may be higher compared with already mature assets like ZEC.

Zcash price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

XMR Price Outperforms Zcash Price But Lags $GHOST

The Monero price has not been sheltered from the pullback in the large-cap privacy sector, but it has held up better than ZEC. In 2025, XMR lagged behind Zcash yet still delivered strong performance, closing the year around $500 and reaching a new high near $714 in mid-January 2026. Over the past week, however, sentiment has turned bearish.

During the second half of January, the XMR price declined by roughly 20%, leaving it trading just below $480. Price has slipped under key moving averages, while RSI has cooled from overbought levels, suggesting weakening momentum rather than a continuation breakout.

Further downside remains possible as traders lock in profits and rotate into smaller-cap privacy projects such as GHOST. With a lack of clear near-term catalysts for XMR, capital appears to be seeking higher-upside opportunities elsewhere.

Monero price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

GhostWareOS Team Teases Major Announcement

The $GHOST rally was partially triggered by Lookonchain data, but it appears to mark the beginning of a longer-term bullish trend driven by the continued rollout of new privacy tools by the team. The charts suggest that the ZEC price and Monero price may well continue to underperform compared to $GHOST.

Following the GhostSwap announcement, the team has now teased another upcoming release. The teaser included the phrase “distribution is changing,” suggesting the next announcement could involve onboarding users from a larger crypto community or platform.

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