Dash leads the crypto market with three-digit weekly gains amid a shift towards privacy

Source: Yellow Original Title: Dash Leads the Crypto Market with Weekly Gains of Three Digits Amid Rotation Towards Privacy

Original Link: Dash experienced an increase of over 100% in the past week, becoming the best-performing cryptocurrency among the top 300 digital assets, significantly outperforming both Bitcoin and the overall altcoin market.

The privacy-focused payment token reached over $95 on Friday, extending gains that began with an intraday jump of 50% on January 13, triggered by a $4.9 million short squeeze.

Trading volume exceeded $1 billion daily, representing an increase of over 800% from normal levels, as investor interest in privacy coins intensified.

Catalysts Behind the Rally

Alchemy Pay announced on January 13 the addition of support for Dash fiat on-ramps, allowing users in 173 countries to purchase the token using credit cards, Apple Pay, and hundreds of local payment methods.

The integration drastically lowered entry barriers for retail participants, and the partnership came at a time when capital was rotating into privacy cryptocurrencies following governance turmoil in the competing protocol Zcash.

Dash also benefited from a partnership on January 15 with AEON Pay, which enables cryptocurrency payments at over 50 million merchants worldwide in Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa.

Technical Outlook and Risks

The token’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) reached the range of 83-92, indicating extreme overbought conditions, and technical analysts warn that such rapid appreciation often triggers profit-taking sales.

Dash faces regulatory headwinds, including the upcoming European Union ban on cryptocurrencies with greater anonymity, which could threaten delistings on exchanges despite the platform’s optional privacy features.

The project plans to launch its Evolution platform update in the first quarter of 2026, introducing atomic swaps without memo and on-chain metadata backups designed to enhance cross-chain transaction capabilities.