Monero hit a new all-time high above the $590 mark just as Zcash’s momentum was fading. Monero (XMR) hit a new all-time high, trading above $567 on Sunday, January 11, 2026 and pushing towards around $592. This is its highest level recorded. At the time of writing, it is trading at around $569.
Monero’s powerful run, which saw XMR surge more than 20% in 24 hours and nearly 40% over the past week, shows a powerful rotation within the privacy coin niche.
Is Monero’s breakout part of the broader comeback of privacy coins? They have quietly outperformed much of the market since Q4 2025. In fact, Monero and Zcash were among the top performers of 2025, even before XMR’s current surge to new highs.
$XMR It’s better than $BTC and that’s why it’s muted.
Under the EU Anti-Money Laundering Regulation (AMLR), a total ban on confidential coins such as $XMR is being phased in. By July 2027, all EU exchanges and banks are legally prohibited from holding or trading Monero. pic.twitter.com/QxS9uQ5Udb
– Gublo (@Gubloinvestor) January 9, 2026
In fact, legendary trader Peter Brandt said that Monero could be approaching a breakout point. He compared Monero’s multi-year price structure with the pattern of silver over several decades before its recent historic rise.
Ryan McMillin, CIO of Merkle Tree Capital, suggested that privacy was one of the few crypto sectors that has “resiled relatively well” through the volatility of 2025.
Additionally, analysts say the latest rise continues a multi-week uptrend that began in late 2024, with Monero rising steadily even as many large-cap coins fell sideways. On the weekly chart, XMR has already passed its 2018 cycle peak. Does this reveal a new phase of price discovery in one of cryptocurrencies’ oldest privacy networks?
Holy shit! We have @PeterLBrandt on board. Monero is ridiculously undervalued and underappreciated.
– Edwinrosero (@alieniswonder) January 12, 2026
DISCOVER:
- 16+ New and Upcoming Binance Announcements in 2026
- 99Bitcoins State of the Crypto Market Report for Q4 2025
Follow 99Bitcoins on X For the latest market updates and subscribe on YouTube for daily market analysis from experts.
Monero Posts New Highs, Zcash (ZEC) Shows Different Picture
By
Dubai has just set a hard line on the privacy of cryptocurrencies. On January 12, the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) banned privacy tokens and rewrote its crypto approval process. Privacy-focused coins like Monero (XMR) and Zcash (ZEC) surged in response to the news, up +14% and +2% in the past 24 hours, respectively.
However, recent intraday analysis describes ZEC’s trading as “a corrective bearish wave” with the price stuck below its 50-day moving average. Therefore, the outlook for ZEC has turned bearish. Analysts see a potential return to key support around $370.85 if the $450 resistance zone continues to cap the upside.
Notably, the recent disruption around the Zcash development pipeline has become a major narrative catalyst directing capital towards Monero.
Reportedly, the entire Electric Coin Company (ECC) team, which had played a central role in Zcash’s technical roadmap, resigned due to disputes over the project’s working conditions, governance, and fund allocation. The governance shock coincided with ZEC sliding more than 20% towards the mid-$300s. But Monero has gone higher. XMR now looks like the most stable privacy play.
DISCOVER: 20+ next cryptos that will explode in 2026
The post Crypto News Today: Monero Surpasses $592, Legendary Trader Peter Brandt Compares XMR to Silver appeared first on 99Bitcoins.
