2025 Crypto Comebacks: Presidential Pardons, Privacy Coin Surges
Summary
The article reflects on significant cryptocurrency comebacks in 2025, setting the stage for 2026. Key events included President Trump granting pardons to Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht in January and Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao in October, signaling a potential easing of the US regulatory climate and encouraging mainstream adoption.
Privacy coins experienced a major rally, with Monero (XMR) gaining around 120% and Zcash (ZEC) surging by 817%, as investors sought anonymity. Investment giant a16z suggests privacy chains have strong growth potential as users value anonymity and are less likely to bridge assets to public blockchains.
Furthermore, Ripple Labs saw major growth after the SEC lawsuit concluded with a settlement and dismissal of the core securities violation accusation. This clarity led to growth in Ripple's ODL product, the launch of its stablecoin RLUSD, and XRP hitting a new all-time high, with analysts predicting further significant gains for XRP in 2026.
(Source:Cointelegraph)