Monero

Zcash

Solana

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<img width="1920" height="1080" src="https://blockchainreporter.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/monero.webp" alt="monero" style="float: right; margin-left: 5px;" title="Best Crypto to Buy Now: BTC Holds $83K as Monero Leads the Privacy Trade 23">
<p>A $10,000 position in Monero a week ago is worth about $11,441 today. The same $10,000 in Bitcoin is worth roughly $9,845. That 15-percentage-point spread is the whole story: while the majors chop inside a tight range, the privacy-coin trade is quietly outrunning them.</p>
<p>Monero (XMR) traded at $611.55 at 14:16 UTC on October 20, up 2.69% over 24 hours and 14.41% over seven days, per <a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/monero" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">CoinGecko</a> data. Bitcoin held $83,046 (+1.33%), Ethereum $2,454.45 (+2.85%), Solana $107.33 (+3.89%), and Zcash — Monero’s privacy sibling, covered in our <a href="https://blockchainreporter.net/zcash-news-today/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">daily Zcash tracker</a> — jumped 8.86% to $1,225.11.</p>
<p>The re-rating is not a one-day squeeze. It traces to a set of dated, verifiable developments. Veteran chart analyst Peter Brandt named Monero his clear favorite among a group of major coins on October 6, writing in an <a href="https://x.com/PeterLBrandt/status/2107277466981019755" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">X post</a>: “Of these, my favorite by far is XMR. I do not know the fundamental narrative. I do not need to know.” His case was structural rather than narrative: “XRP has all that supply overhead, but look at XMR. All the supply has been absorbed. It is clear sailing ahead.”</p>
<h2 id="the-privacy-trade-has-a-bid-not-just-a-story">The Privacy Trade Has a Bid, Not Just a Story</h2>
<p>Monero’s edge is that its float keeps shrinking while its access routes expand. Binance and OKX delisted XMR, and Kraken restricted it across the European Economic Area. That pushed trading into a thinner, more volatile book — but it also forced the ecosystem to build decentralized rails instead of leaning on exchanges.</p>
<p>The biggest of those rails arrived on August 25, when THORChain shipped version 3.20 with native Monero and Zcash swaps, as documented in the <a href="https://blog.thorchain.org/thorchain-protocol-upgrade-v3-20" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">project’s upgrade notes</a>. XMR and ZEC can now move directly against Bitcoin, Ethereum and stablecoins without a wrapped token or a centralized custodian. For a coin exchanges have been discarding, that is the difference between a tradeable asset and a walled-off one.</p>
<p>On the code side, Monero shipped point release 0.18.5.3 on October 6 — the same day as Brandt’s call — describing itself in <a href="https://beta.getmonero.org/blog/2026/10/06/monero-0.18.5.3-released" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">its own release notes</a> as “a highly recommended release that includes a large number of bug fixes.” A follow-up 0.18.5.4 landed Saturday with DNSSEC, checkpoint and block-list fixes. Neither changes consensus rules; both are the quiet maintenance that keeps a network credible while its price runs.</p>
<h2 id="the-market-cap-math-behind-a-675-xmr">The Market-Cap Math Behind a $675 XMR</h2>
<p>Monero’s market cap sits at $11.51 billion, good for rank 13. The coin directly above it is Dogecoin at $12.7 billion. The arithmetic is simple: to flip Dogecoin, XMR needs roughly 10% more — about $675 at the current 18.82 million circulating supply. That is a near-term reference, not a moon target.</p>
<table>
 <thead>
  <tr>
   <th>Asset</th>
   <th>Price (USD)</th>
   <th>24h</th>
   <th>7d</th>
   <th>Market cap</th>
  </tr>
 </thead>
 <tbody>
  <tr>
   <td>Bitcoin (BTC)</td>
   <td>$83,046</td>
   <td>+1.33%</td>
   <td>−1.55%</td>
   <td>$1.67T</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
   <td>Ethereum (ETH)</td>
   <td>$2,454</td>
   <td>+2.85%</td>
   <td>−3.84%</td>
   <td>$299B</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
   <td>XRP</td>
   <td>$1.33</td>
   <td>+2.96%</td>
   <td>−4.19%</td>
   <td>$84B</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
   <td>Solana (SOL)</td>
   <td>$107.33</td>
   <td>+3.89%</td>
   <td>−1.54%</td>
   <td>$63B</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
   <td>Zcash (ZEC)</td>
   <td>$1,225</td>
   <td>+8.86%</td>
   <td>−0.79%</td>
   <td>$20.8B</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
   <td>Monero (XMR)</td>
   <td>$611.55</td>
   <td>+2.69%</td>
   <td>+14.41%</td>
   <td>$11.5B</td>
  </tr>
 </tbody>
</table>
<p>The wider bracket is just as concrete. Monero’s all-time high was $797.73 on January 14, 2026, so $675 would still leave XMR about 15% below its record even as it passes a meme coin that carries none of Monero’s actual usage. The asymmetry cuts both ways, which is why the next section matters.</p>
<h2 id="the-countercase-leverage-is-doing-some-of-the-lifting">The Countercase: Leverage Is Doing Some of the Lifting</h2>
<p>Not everything in this rally is spot demand. Monero’s derivatives open interest has run to roughly $261 million, near the high end of the coin’s historical range, per CoinGlass data cited in market coverage. Open interest is a bet, not a buyer: two traders can open a contract and lift the number without a single coin changing hands.</p>
<p>The caution is amplified by how thin the spot book is after the delistings. Monero’s 24-hour volume of about $176 million is a rounding error next to Bitcoin’s $25 billion. On a thin book, leverage pushes price further in both directions, and Monero’s 24-hour range of $583.67 to $616.56 shows how wide the swings already are. The pair does not always hold hands either — in mid-September, <a href="https://blockchainreporter.net/zcash-hit-1385-while-monero-fell-below-500-on-the-same-day/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Zcash spiked to $1,385 while Monero slid below $500 on the same day</a>, a reminder that the two privacy assets can decouple hard.</p>
<p>There is also the regulatory overhang. EU restrictions on privacy-related crypto services are set to tighten starting in 2027, and the same delisting pattern that made Monero’s supply scarce could keep fresh capital from arriving. Privacy is a feature that regulators keep trying to price.</p>
<h2 id="the-levels-that-matter-this-week">The Levels That Matter This Week</h2>
<p>Support first. The $583–$590 zone — the lower half of Monero’s 24-hour range — is the first level that matters; a daily close below it opens the October 9 low near $520. Resistance sits at $616.56, today’s high, and then $630, the next upside reference flagged after the push past $600.</p>
<p>The invalidation is equally specific. Brandt’s line on October 6 was resistance near $561; once price cleared it, that level flipped to support. A close back below $561 would invalidate the technical case he laid out. On the upside, a weekly close above $630 would confirm the range break and put the $675 Dogecoin-flip level, then the $797.73 record, in play.</p>
<p>Macro matters too. The Federal Reserve’s next decision lands October 27–28, and Bitcoin has been moving in near-lockstep with the S&amp;P 500 while Brent crude holds above $100 on Middle East supply fears. Privacy coins have decoupled from that trade — XMR is up 14.41% on the week while BTC is down 1.55% — but a broad risk-off flush on a hot inflation print would not spare a thin, leveraged book.</p>
<h2 id="frequently-asked-questions">Frequently Asked Questions</h2>
<div class="accordion__wrapper">
 Is Monero a good buy right now? 
 <p>Monero is up 14% in a week on a privacy-coin re-rating, but part of the move is leverage on a thin order book. The technical case holds above $561; the risk is a sharp unwind if leveraged longs get flushed.</p> Why is Monero going up? 
 <p>Three dated drivers: Peter Brandt named XMR his favorite major-coin chart on October 6; THORChain 3.20 added native XMR/ZEC swaps in August; and shrinking exchange liquidity after Binance, OKX and Kraken restrictions has made the float scarcer.</p> Can Monero reach $1,000? 
 <p>Monero’s all-time high is $797.73, set in January 2026. A move to $1,000 is a scenario, not a forecast, and would need roughly 63% upside with no guaranteed catalyst. Watch the $630 and $675 levels first.</p> Is Monero delisted from major exchanges? 
 <p>Yes. Binance and OKX have delisted XMR, and Kraken restricted it in the European Economic Area. THORChain’s native swaps now offer a decentralized route for moving XMR into BTC, ETH and stablecoins.</p> What is the main risk in buying Monero? 
 <p>Leverage concentration — derivatives open interest sits near $261 million — plus thin spot liquidity that amplifies swings, and EU privacy restrictions tightening from 2027. A daily close below $561 would weaken the technical case.</p>
</div>
<div class="disclaimer">
 <p>Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only.</p>
</div>

Best Crypto to Buy Now: BTC Holds $83K as Monero Leads the Privacy Trade

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