You’d be 700% in profit if you invested in this cheap crypto in 2025 instead of Bitcoin

The divergence highlights how capital rotated within the crypto market in 2025. Notably, Bitcoin began the year with strong momentum, supported by institutional inflows and lingering optimism following prior cycle highs.

However, as the year progressed, BTC struggled to sustain upside traction amid profit-taking, ETF flow volatility, and broader risk-off conditions. These pressures weighed on Bitcoins performance, leaving it modestly lower on the year despite several rallies.

Why Zcash dwarfed Bitcoin

Zcash, on the other hand, benefited from a renewed focus on privacy in digital finance that pushed investors toward assets offering stronger transaction confidentiality, an area where ZEC has long differentiated itself.

At the same time, growing use of shielded transactions reduced liquid supply, while ongoing network upgrades improved usability and reinforced confidence in the protocols long-term relevance.

Scarcity dynamics also played a role. Anticipation around Zcashs issuance schedule and tighter effective supply helped amplify upside moves once momentum took hold.

As ZEC broke through long-standing resistance levels in the second half of the year, technical buying and leverage-driven momentum accelerated gains, pushing the token from double-digit prices earlier in the year to well above $400 by December.

Therefore, an investor allocating capital to Zcash at the start of 2025 would be sitting on gains of roughly six to seven times their initial investment, while a similar allocation to Bitcoin would currently be in the red.