Co-ordinate to a new study, privacy-focused digital assets like Zcash (ZEC) and Monero (XMR) surged in price in 2022. Those with a college market place cap, like Litecoin (LTC), may exist hoping to compete with new privacy features.

The report is by social trading and investing platform eToro in partnership with analytics and finance management startup The Necktie. It indicates that ZEC has risen 26.97% against Bitcoin (BTC) in Q1 2022, with Monero upwards a more small 4.61%. Meanwhile, LTC — currently adding Mimblewimble transactions for enhanced privacy — has been outperforming BTC by 8.97%.

Investor focus on privacy drives profits?

Cryptocurrencies similar BTC were originally created for their transaction anonymity, amid other reasons. The fact that more crypto holders in 2022 are choosing to buy assets focused on maintaining user privacy is no big surprise. The Brave browser, created as a privacy-focused alternative to Google Chrome, sold $35 one thousand thousand of its BAT tokens in less than a infinitesimal.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Tie Co-Founder and CEO Joshua Frank addressed some of these concerns on privacy in the digital asset space:

"As governments move to assert more control over individuals' motion and data in the wake of COVID-xix, I recall we will continue to see a pattern of people looking for ways to maintain privacy and anonymity. That has spilled into the digital asset space, every bit we are seeing a surge in demand for privacy coins such as Zcash, Monero, and Litecoin, which has a new focus on privacy. All three assets outperformed Bitcoin in Q1."

Despite large sell-off, the interest in Bitcoin is growing

The question remains why these trends oasis't helped larger coins like BTC, which is worth half every bit much in April 2022 as it was in the summer of 2022. Ripple (XRP) had its worst year ever in 2022, and about lost its number three spot to Tether (USDT) during the March bloodbath.

According to the study, "investor sentiment between Bitcoin and the S&P 500 has by and large been closer" over the final 12 months. Since March 2022, BTC has become more significantly correlated with gold than with the S&P 500. While the cryptocurrency hasn't quite seen the boost that ZEC and XMR have, Frank says it's too early to truly tell whether BTC will benefit from the shift abroad from traditional markets.

"Even though Bitcoin experienced one of its largest sell-offs in history on March 12th, the asset was resilient, bouncing back significantly from lows while experiencing a 47% increment in tweet volume. The interest in Bitcoin is growing, and the narrative around digital gilded has been leading the style."

Source: The Tie

Source: The Necktie

Touch of COVID-19 on crypto market

The coronavirus pandemic changed virtually everything in the fiscal world. While it's hard to ignore the economic fallout in traditional markets, Frank thinks the macroeconomic dubiety will play positively for Bitcoin:

"Coronavirus and the surrounding macro uncertainty has become a significantly more important narrative for Bitcoin than the halving was – mentions of coronavirus in Bitcoin headlines were 8x college in March than mentions of the Halving."

Source: The Tie

Source: The Tie

With a large portion of the world population now more than plugged in than ever, it'southward not surprising many take taken to writing about the cryptocurrency associated with the current pandemic. Volition those discussions prompt a "rush for liquidity" among investors? Frank believes that Bitcoin will still be a histrion in the end:

"Once the dust settles, investors will be looking for alternatives to equities and bonds and cryptocurrency will be a direction that they look at."