"Altcoin rotation…AI and privacy coins lead gains as real-world usage demand comes into focus"

Bitcoin (BTC) briefly climbed above $75,000 intraday, while among altcoins, artificial intelligence (AI) and privacy-related tokens are leading the advance.

According to Decrypt, a media outlet specializing in digital assets (cryptocurrencies), the altcoin market has rebounded around AI and privacy coins after Bitcoin recently moved above $75,000. The market is increasingly viewing this as a shift in capital from speculation-driven trades to narratives grounded in real-world use cases.

Based on CoinGecko data, Zcash (ZEC) rose about 17.9% over the past 24 hours, while Monero (XMR) and Midnight (Midnight) each posted gains in the 3% range. AI-related tokens Virtuals Protocol and NEAR Protocol (NEAR) also climbed by roughly 3%.

Market participants say the move reflects more than a simple speculative rally, pointing instead to a rotation toward use-case-driven narratives. Michael Heinrich, CEO of decentralized AI protocol OG Labs, said, "This cycle isn’t just momentum trading—the key driver is demand for real infrastructure."

Bitcoin’s rise has been attributed to a resumption of ETF inflows, easing geopolitical uncertainty, and a short squeeze in the derivatives market. As a result, Bitcoin dominance fell below 59%, fueling analysis that a “risk-on” rotation of capital into altcoins has emerged.

Still, some caution that the rally may not be durable. Some analysts noted that if spot-buying demand fails to provide sufficient support, the recent upswing could prove to be only a short-term rebound.