Midnight, Zcash, Monero join the privacy ride as Canton seals DTCC partnership

Privacy coins have emerged in the spotlight by recording significant gains in early trading today. Canton and Midnight lead the pack while Zcash and Monero ride the wave.

Canton, a privacy-enabled Layer 1 blockchain, has performed significantly in early trading today as privacy coins gained more traction in the crypto industry.

According to data from the crypto price tracking website Coingecko, the cryptocurrency is up 6.21% in the last 24 hours, bringing its seven-day gain to 3.13%. At the time of this publication, Canton is exchanging hands for $0.07532.

Other privacy coins, such as Midnight, Zcash, and Monero, have also exhibited notable performances. Midnight is up 2% in the last 24 hours, while Monero and Zcash have posted 2.79% and 1% gains, respectively.

DTCC partners with Canton to tokenize some of its U.S. Treasuries

The recent boom in privacy coins is credited to the ongoing reforms and advancements in the sector. Yesterday, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) announced it had partnered with Canton Network to tokenize some of its custodial assets on the Canton Network.

According to the official press release from the U.S. financial market infrastructure, the two entities are working towards an MVP in a controlled production environment during the first half of 2026 and promise to scale the project in line with growing client demand.

The deal is part of DTCC’s long-term vision to make its Depository Trust Company (DTC)-custodied assets available on the blockchain ecosystem.

The announcement also detailed that DTCC will gain a leadership position in Canton Network’s decentralized governance structure and join the Canton Foundation. The new roles will enable DTCC to actively participate in reforms and innovation within the decentralized finance ecosystem.

The partnership is anticipated to unfold over multiple years, with the first phase aiming to deliver tangible benefits to market participants in a secure and regulated environment.

Zcash, the pioneer of zero-knowledge privacy, and ShapeShift, a decentralized, multichain, self-custodial platform, also announced on Tuesday that they had entered into a strategic partnership to promote financial privacy onchain.

According to official announcements, the alliance is part of ShapeShift’s objective to provide a fully self-custodial, multichain hub where users retain total control over their assets and data.

Privacy coins surge despite crypto market uncertainty

Privacy coins have recorded significant performances in recent months despite the broader crypto market experiencing headwinds. According to data from CoinMarketCap, Monero has increased by 90% since reaching a low of $233 in August of this year. The crypto asset has also surged by 10% over the last seven days.

On the other hand, Midnight is up 180% since its official debut 9 days ago on December 9. The crypto asset is currently trading at $0.6427 and has risen by more than 50% in the last week. Canton has risen by 28% from its all-time low price of $0.05902, recorded on December 6.

Zcash has surged by over 650% since mid-September and has risen by more than 30% since December 1. The crypto project recently attracted institutional capital and unlocked more adoption from privacy-conscious crypto traders and investors.

The Winklevoss-backed Cypherpunk Technologies announced on November 19 that it had bought 29,869.29 ZEC (Zcash) for approximately $18 million at an average price of $602.63. The purchase increased the company’s holdings to 233,644.56 ZEC, equivalent to 1.43% of the total ZEC supply at the time.

For the record, Bitcoin is currently trading at $87,458, down by more than 30% from its all-time high of $126,198.07, recorded in early October. The digital asset has declined by more than 20% since early November and has remained relatively unchanged, with a slight 3% drop in the last seven days.