“There is a real opportunity to reaffirm freedom of speech in a unique and different way, that emphasizes pluralism and pushes against unbalanced attempts to manipulate the discourse…”
Privacy coins take the lead
Source: Artemis
This control and freedom discord is starting to impact the numbers. While most crypto sectors have struggled this year, privacy coins are moving in the opposite direction.
In fact, data from Artemis revealed that they are the best-performing sector YTD, far outperforming everything else.
Source: TradingView
While Bitcoin [BTC] remains the market’s anchor, its performance this cycle has been relatively restrained.
Over the same period that Bitcoin has struggled to push higher, Zcash [ZEC] has surged by more than 700%. Monero [XMR] has held its ground with far less downside too.
Source: Coinmarketcap
Trading activity is rising as well, with privacy coins climbing the rankings by volume and market cap. As regulations increase, capital is rotating towards assets built to preserve the holder’s autonomy.
Europe’s push gains pace
All of this is playing out against a busy year for crypto regulation in Europe. In 2025, the EU went from talking about rules to actually enforcing them. MiCA officially kicked in, forcing crypto firms to get licensed, get their disclosures in place, and rethink which tokens they can offer users.
Stablecoins have been under scrutiny, with regulators asking platforms to phase out non-compliant options. At the same time, new rules around cybersecurity and operational risk took effect. Anti-money laundering bodies made it clear that crypto is now a priority area too.
There’s also new sanctions and stricter oversight. Europe’s crypto market is now a heavily controlled arena.
This isn’t new…
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