Arthur Hayes said NEAR and Zcash form the core of his privacy trade, arguing 
that crypto markets are beginning to reprice assets tied to private value 
transfer, AI-era sovereignty and real protocol economics. In an interview with 
The Rollup, the Maelstrom CIO said NEAR could offer “20x potential,” while 
Zcash may have “5x potential” over the next year, framing both assets as part 
of a broader reaction to “big tech, big government” and AI-driven 
surveillance. Hayes’ thesis starts with a macro shift. Earlier this year, he 
said he had been cautious because Bitcoin appeared to be pricing in an “AI 
deflationary credit event,” with monetary authorities unlikely to print 
aggressively until a crisis forced their hand. That changed, he argued, after 
the Iran conflict crystallized a liquidity-positive setup for markets. 
“Governments print money to win war. AI is part of war. The AI capex will be 
underwritten, both in the United States and China, by the governments,” Hayes 
said. He added that governments in the US, China and Europe would likely fund 
a wartime economy and AI infrastructure through monetary expansion, with some 
of that liquidity leaking into Bitcoin and selected crypto assets. Why NEAR 
And Zcash? Hayes’ strongest comments were reserved for privacy. He once again 
confirmed Zcash as his “second biggest bag” and said the asset had become 
investable again after earlier concerns around its trusted setup, issuance 
profile and developer subsidy faded into the background. The old Zcash trade, 
in his view, was too early and too messy. The new one is cleaner, more liquid 
and more relevant to the current political and technological moment. Related 
Reading: Zcash (ZEC) Soars To Six-Month Highs After 110% Rally – Can It Break 
The $700 Barrier? “There’s nothing wrong with wanting to have private money 
over the internet,” Hayes said. “And that’s what Zcash represents, that’s what 
Monero represents. And as we are learning the ability for big tech, big 
government and AI to essentially know everything about us and to trace 
everything that’s going on in our lives, to have pure, just cryptographically 
proven privacy with money is going to be super needed.” Hayes said his renewed 
interest in Zcash accelerated after a conversation with Naval Ravikant during 
Tokyo 2049. According to Hayes, Ravikant argued that Monero’s ring signatures 
were weaker than commonly assumed and referenced a Japanese law-enforcement 
case involving deanonymization. Hayes said he bought $1 million of Zcash 
“right then and there,” then continued accumulating as he researched the 
thesis further. The price target came as Hayes connected Zcash to NEAR’s role 
in making private value transfer more usable across assets and chains. He 
argued that shielded Zcash alone is important, but the larger opportunity 
comes when users can move from shielded ZEC into other assets, including 
stablecoins, through NEAR Intents. “Within the ZODL app, I can now send any 
crypto asset I want to anyone across the Internet in an anonymous way. From 
Shielded Zcash, using Near Intents. Now I’m into, you know, USDT on Tron and 
I’ve sent it to whoever I’m going to send it to in an anonymous fashion. 
That’s huge,” Hayes said. That is where his upside estimates diverge. Hayes 
said Zcash remains the primary expression of the privacy trade, but NEAR may 
offer the more asymmetric setup because it is tied to the execution layer 
behind confidential transfers. “I think Near has a 20x potential where, you 
know, Zcash might have a 5x potential over the next year or something like 
that,” he said. “So you scale the capital that you allocate accordingly to the 
risk.” Related Reading: Why Multicoin Is Betting Big On Zcash: Tushar Jain 
Lays Out The Bull Case NEAR co-founder Illia Polosukhin reinforced the 
economic side of that argument, saying NEAR Intents is approaching $20 billion 
in lifetime volume, with $18.9 billion cited during the interview, and has 
generated $33 million in fees. He said NEAR takes a fee from every transaction 
and uses it to buy back NEAR, while the ecosystem has already halved inflation 
and may push for further reductions as revenue grows. Hayes also tied the 
trade to token structure. He said NEAR benefits from being “fully diluted,” 
avoiding the large overhang of venture allocations that still weighs on many 
L1 assets. For a token expected to move in an upmarket, he argued, that clean 
supply profile matters. The risk, in Hayes’ own framing, is macro. He said he 
intends to hold until the broader liquidity backdrop changes, but warned that 
reduced government support for AI capex or a worsening war scenario would 
alter the setup. For now, he sees privacy, AI-linked sovereignty and exchange 
revenue as the trades with the clearest market validation. At press time, 
Zcash traded at $624. Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from 
TradingView.com

Arthur Hayes said NEAR and Zcash form the core of his privacy trade, arguing that crypto markets are beginning to reprice assets tied to private value transfer, AI-era sovereignty and real protocol economics. In an interview with The Rollup, the Maelstrom CIO said NEAR could offer “20x potential,” while Zcash may have “5x potential” over &#8230;

Arthur Hayes Sees 20x Upside For NEAR, 5x For Zcash Within One Year

The US&#8217;s tariff stance may strain North American trade relations, impacting 
future negotiations and potentially altering regional economic dynamics.
The post US to maintain tariffs on USMCA countries as Greer cites &#8216;giant trade 
deficit&#8217; appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

The US&#8217;s tariff stance may strain North American trade relations, impacting future negotiations and potentially altering regional economic dynamics. The post US to maintain tariffs on USMCA countries as Greer cites &#8216;giant trade deficit&#8217; appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

US to maintain tariffs on USMCA countries as Greer cites ‘giant trade deficit’

Crypto firms, including Galaxy Digital, Gemini, Sharplink, and Bitmine 
Immersion Technologies, have appeared on FTSE Russell’s preliminary lists for 
possible inclusion in the Russell 3000 indexes, opening the door to automatic 
buying from index-linked funds and new institutional exposure. According…

Crypto firms, including Galaxy Digital, Gemini, Sharplink, and Bitmine Immersion Technologies, have appeared on FTSE Russell’s preliminary lists for possible inclusion in the Russell 3000 indexes, opening the door to automatic buying from index-linked funds and new institutional exposure. According…

Russell 3000 preliminary list features Gemini, Galaxy and Bitmine

Hong Kong&#8217;s nuanced tax policy could position it as a leading hub for 
institutional crypto investment, intensifying regional competition.
The post Hong Kong introduces 0% capital gains tax on Bitcoin, but the full 
picture is more nuanced appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Hong Kong&#8217;s nuanced tax policy could position it as a leading hub for institutional crypto investment, intensifying regional competition. The post Hong Kong introduces 0% capital gains tax on Bitcoin, but the full picture is more nuanced appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Hong Kong introduces 0% capital gains tax on Bitcoin, but the full picture is more nuanced

A permissionless exchange protocol called Exchange OS has gone live on OKX’s 
Xlayer network, allowing any developer to deploy spot markets, perpetual 
futures, and prediction markets on shared infrastructure, with Glassnode 
serving as the official onchain data provider. Glassnode Powers Exchange OS 
Launch on OKX’s Xlayer Onchan analytics provider Glassnode confirmed on May 
26, that […]

A permissionless exchange protocol called Exchange OS has gone live on OKX’s Xlayer network, allowing any developer to deploy spot markets, perpetual futures, and prediction markets on shared infrastructure, with Glassnode serving as the official onchain data provider. Glassnode Powers Exchange OS Launch on OKX’s Xlayer Onchan analytics provider Glassnode confirmed on May 26, that &#8230;

Exchange OS Goes Live on OKX’s Xlayer With Glassnode Data, Opens Market Building to Any Developer

Dogecoin corrected some gains from the $0.1050 zone against the US Dollar. 
DOGE is now holding the $0.10 support but could extend losses. DOGE price 
started a fresh downside correction below $0.1020. The price is trading below 
the $0.1020 level and the 100-hourly simple moving average. There is a bearish 
trend line forming with resistance at $0.1020 on the hourly chart of the 
DOGE/USD pair (data source from Kraken). The price could aim for a fresh 
increase if it remains stable above $0.10. Dogecoin Price Holds Support 
Dogecoin price started a downside correction after it failed to surpass 
$0.1050, like Bitcoin and Ethereum. DOGE declined below the $0.1035 and 
$0.1020 levels. There was a move below the 50% Fib retracement level of the 
upward move from the $0.0968 swing low to the $0.1048 high. The price even 
spiked below $0.10 before the bulls appeared. Besides, there is a bearish 
trend line forming with resistance at $0.1020 on the hourly chart of the 
DOGE/USD pair. Dogecoin price is now trading below the $0.1015 level and the 
100-hourly simple moving average. Immediate resistance on the upside is near 
the $0.1020 level. The first major resistance for the bulls could be near the 
$0.1036 level. The next major resistance is near the $0.1050 level. A close 
above the $0.1050 resistance might send the price toward $0.1088. Any more 
gains might send the price toward $0.1120. The next major stop for the bulls 
might be $0.1150. Downside In DOGE? If DOGE’s price fails to climb above the 
$0.1020 level, it could continue to move down. Initial support on the downside 
is near the $0.10 level. It is close to the 61.8% Fib retracement level of the 
upward move from the $0.0968 swing low to the $0.1048 high. The next major 
support is near the $0.0985 level. The main support sits at $0.0965. If there 
is a downside break below the $0.0965 support, the price could decline 
further. In the stated case, the price might slide toward the $0.0920 level. 
Any more losses might call for a test of $0.0880. Technical Indicators Hourly 
MACD – The MACD for DOGE/USD is now gaining momentum in the bearish zone. 
Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for DOGE/USD is now below the 
50 level. Major Support Levels – $0.1000 and $0.0965. Major Resistance Levels 
– $0.1020 and $0.1050.

Dogecoin corrected some gains from the $0.1050 zone against the US Dollar. DOGE is now holding the $0.10 support but could extend losses. DOGE price started a fresh downside correction below $0.1020. The price is trading below the $0.1020 level and the 100-hourly simple moving average. There is a bearish trend line forming with resistance &#8230;

Arthur Hayes Sees 20x Upside For NEAR, 5x For Zcash Within One Year

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