'What Is XRP Really Doing?': Helius Founder Says Zcash Mispriced Below XRP, BNB — Targets 10% Of Bitcoin's Market Cap

• Helius founder Mert Mumtaz said on Tuesday he shifted focus toward Zcash, arguing the privacy coin remains undervalued.
• Mert said he still remains “Solana-first” while building privacy infrastructure, describing his crypto positioning as a “barbell” between Bitcoin, Zcash and higher-risk assets.
• Multicoin co-founder Tushar Jain argued that Zcash’s optional privacy model makes it popular for institutional adoption.

Mert Mumtaz, the founder of Solana (SOL) infrastructure company Helius, said on Tuesday that he has shifted his focus toward Zcash (ZEC), arguing that the privacy-focused cryptocurrency remains deeply undervalued compared with larger digital assets like Ripple’s XRP (XRP) and Binance (BNB).

Speaking on the Bankless podcast, Mert said he first started looking closely at Zcash around two years ago after the project’s team asked him to review its scaling design. He pointed to the market capitalization of the cryptocurrencies. 

“If you look at Zcash it is way below XRP and what is XRP really doing? And all sorts of different coins are trading below BNB”, Mert said. “The target most people would give Zcash is ‘some percent of Bitcoin’s market cap,’ 10% being one commonly cited figure.” He added that some, including himself, have more “delusional” upside views, but that is the bull-end of a range, not the consensus.

However, Mert revealed that he was “still Solana-first,” noting that Helius remains a “Solana only infrastructure provider” and is also building a privacy layer on the network. He described his broader crypto positioning as a “barbell,” with Bitcoin (BTC) and Zcash on one side and higher-risk assets like Hyperliquid (HYPE) on the other.

Ripple-native XRP’s price remained flat in the last 24 hours. On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment around XRP remained in the ‘bullish’ zone, while chatter around it stayed in the ‘high’ levels over the past day.

Privacy Coins Returns

Mert added that privacy has become crypto’s “forgotten” final pillar, but said the sector may be entering a stronger phase as zero-knowledge technology improves and institutions revisit on-chain privacy tools. 

Multicoin co-founder Tushar Jain, who also appeared on the podcast, said that Zcash’s optional privacy structure makes it “more conducive to institutional adoption” because users can choose between transparent and shielded transactions. Jain contrasted Zcash with fully private cryptocurrencies like Monero (XMR), arguing that optional privacy could make Zcash attractive to a broader set of users and businesses navigating compliance requirements. Earlier this month, ZEC reached a yearly high, after Jain revealed that he had invested a "significant" position in the cryptocurrency.

Mert also argued that advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are making blockchain deanonymization easier, increasing demand for privacy-focused tools.

Zcash’s price was up over 6% during the past 24 hours, trading at $563. On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment around ZEC moved to ‘neutral’ from the ‘bullish’ zone, while chatter around it stayed in the ‘normal’ levels over the past day. 

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