In 2025, various crypto assets experienced a drastic decline, especially at the end of the year. Take Bitcoin, for example, which reached its highest value in October before falling drastically a month later and continues fluctuating until now.
On the other hand, several coins that outperformed the market and closed 2025 with significant increases.
Here are the three top-performing cryptocurrencies of 2025, their rate of increase, and the reasons behind their significant price hikes.
Zcash (ZEC)
Zcash is a cryptocurrency released by Electric Coin Company in 2016. CoinMarketCap lists Zcash's current value at $523.
This year, Zcash has experienced an 800% year-to-date increase after a dramatic repricing from September to November. Data even shows a 400% increase in October.
The shift toward privacy tokens, promotions from crypto analysts and influencers, and increased exchange interest are behind the coin's rising value. On October 1, 2025, entrepreneur Naval Ravikant even wrote, “Bitcoin is insurance against fiat. Zcash is insurance against Bitcoin.”
Zcash became one of the most sought-after assets on Coinbase in November. Currently, Zcash ranks 14th on CoinMarketCap's list of the top 100 cryptocurrencies.
Monero (XMR)
Monero was launched in 2014 and has strong community support. Its built-in privacy features also helped Monero rebound despite being delisted in the past.
According to CoinMarketCap, Monero is currently trading at $441 after rising 129% year-to-date. Two catalysts caused this increase.
- A massive price change in April 2025 due to the swapping of 3,520 BTC to XMR.
- A continued price increase into mid-May due to rumors about developing privacy features and a possible relisting.
CoinMarketCap notes that Monero is ranked 16th on the list of the top 100 cryptos
OKB
OKB is a utility token for the OKX exchange. It was originally used to pay platform fees and access the ecosystem. However, this coin is now closely linked to OKX's X Layer network.
According to CoinMarketCap data, OKB is priced at $106. The coin closed 2025 with a 115% increase.
Last August, OKB surged after promising to burn 65.26 million OKB, equivalent to $7.6 million. Within a day, this news more than doubled the price of OKB, from $46 to $105.
Currently, OKB is ranked 37th on CoinMarketCap's list of the top 100 cryptocurrencies.
