Monero hit an all-time high earlier this week, and crypto sleuth ZachXBT thinks he knows why

Monero (XMR), the market-leading privacy-focused cryptocurrency, experienced significant volatility this week, climbing to a new multi-year high, defying general market trends that have seen many major altcoins stagnate. While immediate speculation often attributes such surges to retail momentum or positive regulatory news, the pseudonymous on-chain investigator known as ZachXBT posits that the spike is driven primarily by heightened demand from illicit actors seeking maximum anonymity.

ZachXBT, renowned for tracking large-scale scams, rug pulls, and compromised funds across various blockchains, took to social media to highlight evidence suggesting that the increase in XMR’s price is correlative with a significant uptick in transactions linked to known darknet markets (DNMs) and state-sponsored hacker groups seeking to offload or launder large volumes of previously compromised funds.

Monero’s core technology, which utilizes Ring Signatures, Ring Confidential Transactions (RingCT), and stealth addresses, makes transactions virtually untraceable, obscuring the sender, receiver, and transaction amount. This feature has cemented its status as the favored currency for entities prioritizing financial privacy above all else, including those targeted by international sanctions or law enforcement agencies.

The sleuth’s analysis suggests that recent crackdowns and increased scrutiny on traditional Bitcoin mixing services—which are centralized and increasingly prone to identification—have pushed major money laundering operations to switch to native privacy coins like Monero. The sudden influx of large volume purchases required to facilitate these illicit transfers has created a massive demand shock, subsequently driving the XMR price to levels not seen in years. This narrative reinforces the ongoing debate regarding the dual nature of privacy coins: providing essential financial confidentiality while simultaneously offering a crucial tool for sophisticated criminal finance.

Source: Monero hit an all-time high earlier this week, and crypto sleuth ZachXBT thinks he knows why