"Dinosaur Coin" Season: Why does Zcash and Dash lead the rally?

The “Dinosaur Coin” trend is making a comeback. Some established cryptocurrencies have shown strong performance during the rally of mainstream coins, with Zcash (ZEC) and Dash (DASH) leading the way. ZEC has regained attention due to its innovative technology, which combines privacy protection with compliance requirements. Dash, on the other hand, has recovered rapidly as it continues to benefit from its fast payment processing capabilities and active community support. This trend indicates that despite the emergence of new cryptocurrencies, those with stable technologies, practical applications, and active communities still have significant potential for recovery. They become attractive opportunities for investors at lower prices.

Key points:

● Zcash and Dash led the “privacy revival” after the crash, breaking years of downward trends.

● Monero failed to participate in this rally due to the removal of its main exchanges.

Cryptocurrencies focused on privacy, such as Zcash (ZEC) and Dash (DASH), became one of the strongest performers after the sharp decline in the crypto market on Friday and Saturday. Over 20 billion units were liquidated during this period.

As of Thursday, ZEC had recovered more than 66% from its low point on October 9, reaching $246. Its value has increased by nearly 350% since the beginning of the year, with a rise of 230% in October alone.

Daily chart of ZEC/USDT. Source: TradingView

Dash has recovered more than 65% since the crash, with its trading price approaching $50 as of Thursday. Its return rate over the past month was nearly 150%.

Daily chart of Dash/USDT. Source: TradingView

In 2021, the Litecoin (LTC) managed to recover from its low points, with a surge of over 80%. However, since the beginning of this year, its performance has still lagged behind most privacy coins, with losses of approximately 7.50% throughout the year.

LTC/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView

These recent price increases have prompted some traders to talk about what they call the “Dinosaur Coin Season” – coins that had performed poorly in the crypto market for many years (before 2017) are now starting to show signs of recovery.

But what drove this rebound?

Naval Ravikant’s support for Zcash

According to data from Messari, the total market value of privacy coins has increased by 36.70% since October 1st, reaching over $7 billion as of Thursday.

According to renowned investor Naval Ravikant, who wrote in October 1st that Zcash is “Bitcoin’s insurance”, the rise in privacy coins began that day, with ZEC soaring by more than 60%.

Top privacy coin performers based on 30-day gains. Source: Messari

After the crash wiped out billions of dollars worth of leveraged positions, the altcoin market reached its lowest levels since April, creating an attractive opportunity for bargain hunters.

Four-hour relative strength index of the total altcoin market value. Source: TradingView

Therefore, when Zcash rebounded significantly under oversold conditions and with the support of Ravikant, it sent a signal to traders that the privacy coin market was ready to recover.

Source: X

Ultimately, the price of privacy coins experienced a strong rebound, showing significant improvement.

According to industry sources, Monero, due to its anonymous design, is currently unavailable or restricted on most major exchanges such as Binance and OKEX, as well as several European trading platforms. The most valuable privacy coin, Monero (XMR), did not experience a similar rebound.

Daily chart of XMR/USD. Source: TradingView

These removals significantly reduced the liquidity and visibility of Monero, limiting its potential for further gains in the broader market.

A technical reversal after years of decline

The recent surge in “Dinosaur Coin” has broken years of downward trends, indicating a shift in market sentiment. This is similar to how XRP broke through a seven-year consolidation trend in November 2024, experiencing a rise of over 630%.

Both Zcash and Dash have broken through their long-term downtrending wedge patterns, which are typically signs of positive reversals indicating continued strong growth.

This month, ZEC broke through the resistance zone of $200-$220 and confirmed a breakthrough, turning it into short-term support levels. This marks the end of seven years of decline and opens up room for further increases to $490 in the coming months.

Monthly chart of ZEC/USD. Source: TradingView

DASH has entered a phase of its own breakout process, recovering above the $50 mark for the first time since early 2024.

Monthly chart of DASH/USDT. Source: TradingView

The continuous decline above this level, combined with the further support from DASH’s 50-month EMA (red line), could indicate a potential wedge breakthrough. The target is set at $760 or higher, for the next few months or years.

A retracement of DASH below the 50-month EMA might render the monthly breakout targets ineffective or delay their implementation.

LTC remains in an ascending triangle pattern, having reached several high lows since 2022.

Monthly chart of LTC/USD. Source: TradingView

DASH has failed to break through the $100-$150 range several times. However, if it manages to break through this upper limit, it could trigger a move towards the 1.0 Fibonacci retracement level at around $375, marking a full recovery from previous losses.

Overall, these patterns reinforce the idea of a “private key recovery” trend. Currently, ZEC and DASH are leading this trend.