10. Zcash (ZEC)

The Privacy Coin With an On-Off Switch

Zcash uses zero-knowledge proofs to hide transactions, making it the privacy-focused Bitcoin alternative. At $512.80 per coin, it’s got the same 21 million coin cap as Bitcoin, appealing to digital scarcity believers. Here’s what’s weird: privacy is optional, not mandatory like in competing privacy coins. That means only 20-30% of transactions are actually shielded, which is why adoption stays low despite the clever tech.