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Could $ZEC ever surpass Bitcoin? Back in 2010, Satoshi wrote that privacy would make Bitcoin significantly better. But at that time, the problem remained: how to prove that a coin wasn’t double-spent without revealing transaction information. Zcash offered a solution using ZK-proofs: the correctness of a transaction can be confirmed without revealing all its details.  Therefore, $ZEC is not just another privacy-featured coin. Zcash has characteristics similar to Bitcoin: a maximum supply of 21 million coins and a similar halving model. At the beginning of 2025, $ZEC’s market cap was about 0.05% of BTC’s market cap. Now it’s approximately 1.49%. For comparison: ETH — 19.4% of BTC $BNB — 6.1% XRP — 5.7% ZEC — 1.49% A BNB or $XRP level would mean roughly 4x more. The bullish scenario is supported by several factors: a small share of privacy coins in the entire crypto market, the 21-million supply cap and halving model similar to Bitcoin, as well as growing institutional interest. But there are also serious risks. Only about 29% of ZEC is in the shielded pool. Inflation persists, and part of the block rewards goes to developers. In 2026, an old vulnerability was discovered. It has been fixed, and there is no evidence of its exploitation. At the same time, privacy is developing in other ecosystems. Solutions are emerging that allow private transactions on Bitcoin and major networks. Therefore, the main question is not whether Zcash can literally "flip" Bitcoin. So, I’m much more interested in whether $ZEC can occupy a unique position at the intersection of three narratives: Bitcoin-like tokenomics, privacy, and potential quantum resistance. This combination may prove stronger than the usual "privacy coin" thesis. At the same time, flipping Bitcoin remains an extremely distant scenario and would require a huge change in relative market caps. Therefore, the current growth of $ZEC is more logically viewed as a reassessment of its role in the crypto market, rather than proof of future superiority over BTC.