Firo and Zano Surge Amid Regulatory Headwinds in Privacy Coin Sector

The privacy-focused cryptocurrency sector has seen renewed interest in Firo and Zano, with both assets experiencing double-digit gains over the past 24 hours. According to CoinGecko, Firo has surged more than 12% while Zano holds a market capitalization of roughly $178 million.

Despite regulatory pressure from FATF, the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, and voluntary delistings by major exchanges, on-chain data shows rising transaction counts on privacy-native chains. Venture capital continues to flow into cryptographic privacy research, indicating that investors are not deterred by the challenges facing this sector.

Firo, formerly known as Zcoin, has implemented the Lelantus Spark protocol, which enables confidential transactions with hidden amounts and addresses without a trusted setup requirement. Zano launched in 2019 as a privacy-centric blockchain ecosystem built on ring signatures and stealth addresses, positioning itself as an enterprise-grade confidential asset platform.

The regulatory vise tightening around privacy coins has accelerated since 2021, with FATF issuing guidance that flagged 'anonymity-enhancing cryptocurrencies' as presenting elevated money laundering and terrorist financing risks. Major exchanges such as Bittrex and Kraken have delisted several leading privacy coins, including Monero, Zcash, and Dash.

However, on-chain activity metrics for these assets have not collapsed, with Monero's daily transaction count averaging approximately 22,000 transactions per day in Q1 2026. The growth of atomic swap protocols has enabled users to migrate to decentralized alternatives when centralized exchange liquidity disappears.