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A claim that would have sounded like a joke in 2024 is now making the rounds as serious market chatter in late 2025: the CEO of Solana infrastructure outfit Helius, known online as just Mert, made the rounds recently with a prediction that Zcash will "flip" XRP.
Adding to the narrative, in his opinion, it is not just a price call but a "moral duty" to push privacy coins ahead of the token associated with Ripple in the crypto hierarchy.
On X, Mert framed it in almost generational terms: "Do you want your children growing up in a world where XRP still sits in the top three, above privacy-first assets?" Ironically meant or not, he does not.
The post drew tens of thousands of views overnight, sparking debate not just about XRP’s position but about the role of privacy in a regulatory climate that is getting more suffocating by the month all over the world, from India to the U.K.
Math behind XRP vs. ZEC
Behind the Zcash vs. XRP talk are concrete numbers: XRP today trades at $2.54 with a market cap of $152.8 billion, while ZEC changes hands at $359, its capitalization barely scratching $5.8 billion.
A simple “what if” tool shows ZEC at nearly $9,500 if it absorbed XRP’s valuation, a 2,600% gap that puts Mert’s bold talk into perspective.
Critics point out XRP’s established liquidity, institutional adoption and presence on exchanges. Supporters counter that narratives change quickly, and privacy tokens could become the next political commodity if governments overreach with surveillance and CBDC.
Whether this is satire, provocation or foresight, the statement highlights a potential divide in the future of crypto: compliance versus resistance tokens. The scoreboard is clear right now: XRP is number 5, and ZEC is number 23.
Dan Burgin
Vladislav Sopov
U.Today Editorial Team