Digital Currency Group founder and CEO Barry Silbert said that 5% to 10% of Bitcoin capital could eventually rotate into privacy-focused cryptocurrencies such as Zcash. He made the remarks during Bitcoin Investor Week in New York. Silbert said he remains bullish on Bitcoin and still treats it as a core portfolio holding, but he also argued that Bitcoin’s sheer size now limits the scale of future upside.
In his view, Bitcoin is unlikely to produce 500x returns unless the U.S. dollar fully collapses. Smaller networks with narrower and more defined use cases may offer greater upside because they are earlier in their growth cycle. Alongside Zcash, Silbert also pointed to the AI-driven network Bittensor as an example.
Privacy demand is rising as crypto becomes easier to track
Silbert’s thesis centers on financial privacy. He said Bitcoin’s old image as anonymous digital cash no longer reflects reality. With blockchain analytics firms such as Chainalysis and Elliptic tracing activity, Bitcoin transactions have become highly transparent and traceable.
He linked that shift to the growing presence of institutional capital in crypto. As large investors enter the market, regulatory oversight and compliance standards are becoming stricter. In that environment, privacy technology may gain value. Silbert said he does not expect Bitcoin to meaningfully adopt strong privacy features, which is why he sees capital moving toward networks that were designed around privacy from the start, especially those using zero-knowledge technology to protect transaction data.
DCG already has exposure to the privacy thesis
His comments drew added attention because DCG has long-standing ties to the sector. Grayscale, a DCG subsidiary, launched the first institutional Bitcoin investment vehicle in 2013, and that product later became one of the most actively traded spot Bitcoin ETFs. Grayscale also launched the Grayscale Zcash Trust in 2017 and is working toward converting it into an ETF.
Silbert added that Zcash could serve as a long-term hedge against possible quantum computing risks to Bitcoin, though he said he does not see that threat as immediate.
Debate grows over privacy coins versus privacy features
Not everyone agrees that standalone privacy chains will be the main winners. Crypto user neural_gin said privacy is becoming a premium feature as regulation tightens, but questioned whether that function needs its own blockchain.
He argued that zero-knowledge proofs embedded into major networks such as Ethereum or Solana could compete directly with projects like Zcash. Under that view, privacy works better as an optional feature that users can turn on when needed, rather than as a separate token economy tied to a dedicated chain.
Still, Silbert’s argument is straightforward: if even a small portion of Bitcoin capital rotates, the privacy segment could regain momentum. The open question is where that value ends up settling.