Arthur Hayes has identified NEAR and Zcash as the core of his privacy-focused investment strategy. He believes crypto markets are starting to reassess assets tied to private value transfers, AI-era sovereignty, and real protocol economics. In an interview with The Rollup, the Maelstrom CIO suggested NEAR could offer “20x potential,” while Zcash might deliver “5x potential” over the next year. He sees both as part of a broader pushback against “big tech, big government,” and AI-driven surveillance.
Hayes’ reasoning starts with a big-picture shift. Earlier this year, he said he was cautious because Bitcoin seemed to be pricing in an “AI deflationary credit event,” with central banks unlikely to print money aggressively until a crisis forced their hand. That changed, he argued, after the Iran conflict created a liquidity-friendly environment for markets. “Governments print money to win wars. AI is part of war. AI spending will be backed by governments, both in the US and China,” 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 flowing into Bitcoin and select crypto assets.
Why NEAR and Zcash?
Hayes was most emphatic about privacy. He once again confirmed Zcash as his “second biggest bag” and said the asset had become investable again after earlier concerns about its trusted setup, issuance profile, and developer subsidy faded. In his view, the old Zcash trade was too early and too messy. The new one is cleaner, more liquid, and more relevant to the current political and technological climate.
“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to have private money over the internet,” Hayes said. “That’s what Zcash represents, and that’s what Monero represents. As we learn how big tech, big government, and AI can know everything about us and track everything in our lives, having pure, cryptographically proven privacy with money will be essential.”
Hayes said his renewed interest in Zcash picked up after a conversation with Naval Ravikant during Tokyo 2049. According to Hayes, Ravikant argued that Monero’s ring signatures were weaker than commonly thought and pointed to a Japanese law enforcement case involving deanonymization. Hayes said he bought $1 million of Zcash “right then and there” and kept adding to his position as he dug deeper into the thesis.
The price target came as Hayes linked Zcash to NEAR’s role in making private value transfers more usable across different assets and blockchains. He argued that shielded Zcash alone is important, but the bigger opportunity lies in users moving from shielded ZEC into other assets, including stablecoins, through NEAR Intents.
“With the ZODL app, I can now send any crypto asset I want to anyone across the internet anonymously. From shielded Zcash, using NEAR Intents. Now I’m into, say, USDT on Tron, and I’ve sent it to whoever I want in an anonymous way. That’s huge,” Hayes said.
This is where his upside estimates differ. Hayes said Zcash remains the main expression of the privacy trade, but NEAR might offer a more asymmetric opportunity because it’s tied to the execution layer behind confidential transfers. “I think NEAR has a 20x potential, while Zcash might have a 5x potential over the next year or so,” he said. “So you scale your capital allocation based on the risk.”
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 noted that NEAR takes a fee from every transaction.It uses the revenue to buy back NEAR, while the ecosystem has already cut inflation in half and may push for further reductions as revenue grows. Hayes also linked the trade to the token’s structure. He noted that NEAR benefits from being “fully diluted,” avoiding the large overhang of venture capital allocations that still weighs on many Layer 1 assets. For a token expected to rise in a bullish market, he argued, that clean supply structure matters. The risk, in Hayes’ own view, is macroeconomic. He said he plans to hold until the broader liquidity environment changes, but warned that reduced government support for AI infrastructure or a worsening war scenario would shift the outlook. For now, he sees privacy, AI-related sovereignty, and exchange revenue as the trades with the clearest market validation. At press time, Zcash was trading at $624. Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here is a list of FAQs based on Arthur Hayes prediction about NEAR and Zcash
BeginnerLevel Questions
Q Who is Arthur Hayes and why should I care about his predictions
A Hes a wellknown figure in crypto best known as the cofounder of BitMEX a major crypto exchange People pay attention because he has a track record of making bold market calls but his predictions are still just opinionsnot financial advice
Q What did Arthur Hayes say about NEAR and Zcash
A He predicted that NEAR Protocol could increase in value by 20 times and Zcash by 5 times within the next year
Q What is NEAR Protocol
A NEAR is a blockchain platform designed for building decentralized applications Its known for being fast userfriendly and energyefficient similar to Ethereum but with lower fees
Q What is Zcash
A Zcash is a privacyfocused cryptocurrency Unlike Bitcoin it allows users to shield transaction details so they stay private
Q Does this mean I should buy NEAR and Zcash right now
A Not necessarily Predictions are speculative Crypto is very volatile so you should only invest money you can afford to lose and ideally do your own research first
Intermediate Advanced Questions
Q Why does Hayes think NEAR could go up 20x
A He likely believes NEARs technology and growing ecosystem could attract more users and developers A 20x jump would require a major bull market or a killer app launching on NEAR
Q Why only 5x for Zcash instead of 20x
A Zcash has a smaller market cap and less developer activity than NEAR Hayes may see privacy coins as a niche play and regulatory pressure limits their upside compared to generalpurpose blockchains
Q What specific events could trigger these price increases
A For NEAR major partnerships a successful AIrelated product or a halvinglike supply shock For Zcash a privacy regulation shift or a technical upgrade that makes it easier to use