While 2025 closed with a bruising stretch for crypto, three names consistently showed relative strength: XRP, Zcash (ZEC) and Algorand (ALGO). A year-end roundup from Cointelegraph highlights how the trio “came back from the dead” in a market where the classic “altcoin season” never arrived. The piece frames their outperformance against a backdrop of cautious risk-taking and a broad alt slump.
A tough tape for alts
The broader market tone matters. By mid-December, 75 of the top 100 tokens were trading below key moving-average signals, a sign of persistent weakness outside of Bitcoin. That underperformance mirrored the narrative many traders felt all year: BTC could set records, but most alts lagged.
Cointelegraph’s syndications also note that altcoin market capitalization fell sharply in 2025, while Bitcoin dominance stayed elevated—conditions that make any alt outperformance stand out more.
XRP: regulatory fog lifts, liquidity returns
For XRP, 2025 brought the resolution investors had waited years for. Coverage late December emphasized that Ripple’s long SEC battle effectively concluded during the year, clearing a structural overhang and helping the token print fresh multi-year highs. That legal clarity, plus new product momentum from Ripple, coincided with stronger flows.
Cointelegraph’s end-of-year summary specifically flags regulatory developments as the key driver for XRP’s relative strength despite the lack of a broad alt season. In a market wary of enforcement risk, simply removing uncertainty was a catalyst.
What to watch: Any updates on exchange listings and institutional rails that build on the legal clarity—such as custody support, payment corridors, or ETF/ETN speculation—could keep XRP in the relative-strength column into early 2026.
Zcash: privacy narrative roars back
If 2025 had a surprise comeback story, it was Zcash. CoinDesk chronicled how ZEC surged hundreds of percent in Q4, briefly overtook Monero by market cap, and led a broader revival in privacy tokens as investors rotated into “anti-surveillance” narratives. Multiple dispatches through October–November tied the move to rising demand for confidentiality, elevated trading volumes, and product upgrades across the privacy stack.
The message dovetails with Cointelegraph’s year-end take: ZEC benefited from renewed interest in financial privacy, attracting flows even as many alts struggled. It’s a reminder that narratives can cycle—2018-style themes can suddenly matter again when macro or policy conversations shift.
What to watch: Liquidity quality on major venues, any regulated product developments (there was even chatter around ZEC-themed ETP efforts), and how privacy-tech integrations evolve across chains. Sustained depth and credible, compliant on-ramps would be the next step for durability.
Algorand: tokenization and enterprise rails
Algorand (ALGO) didn’t ride a memecoin wave or a speculative mania—it leaned into real-world tokenization and enterprise-oriented infrastructure. The Algorand Foundation recapped an active 2025: the Algorand 4.x upgrade series, progress on interoperability and governance, and partnerships aimed at compliant payments and on-chain finance—exactly the kind of groundwork that resonates when capital turns selective.
Cointelegraph’s summary pins “real-world tokenization efforts” as ALGO’s key tailwind. Even amid a weak year for alts, sectors like tokenized treasuries and institutional payments built credibility—and Algorand positioned itself squarely in that conversation.
What to watch: Enterprise pilots maturing into scaled usage, measurable RWA (real-world asset) TVL, and continued throughput/security improvements that lower integration friction for traditional finance.
Why these three, in this year?
The common thread is idiosyncratic catalysts that stood out in a selective market:
- Regulatory clarity (XRP) reduces headline risk and broadens potential distribution.
- Narrative rotation to privacy (ZEC) met with genuine spot and derivatives demand, lifting prices and volumes.
- Tokenization/enterprise rails (ALGO) matched where institutions actually deployed in 2025, not just where retail hoped they would.
Against a backdrop where many alts traded below key averages, anything with clear utility, cleaner regulatory optics, or differentiated tech had a shot at relative strength.
Conclusion
In a year that punished most altcoins, XRP, Zcash, and Algorand outperformed for three very different reasons: law, privacy, and tokenization. If 2025 taught anything, it’s that the market is rewarding specific, verifiable progress over vague promises—and that’s a healthy signal heading into 2026.