2 Cryptocurrencies Up 160% or More in 2026 to Buy Instead of XRP

The article favors Zcash and NEAR over XRP based on token-supply mechanisms, while noting that past gains are not a forecast: through Oct. 8, ZEC was up 120% year to date, NEAR 190%, and XRP down 28%. Zcash’s planned Nov. 5, 2026 upgrade would direct 60% of transaction fees to remove coins from circulation, with those fees payable to miners starting in 2031; NEAR buybacks rose to $3.1 million in Q3 2026 from $760,000 in Q1. XRP’s circulating supply increased from 59.9 billion to 63.1 billion over the year to Oct. 7, 2026, while fee destruction has removed 14.4 million XRP in total.

Analysis

The investable distinction is whether usage creates durable, measurable net buying—not whether a token has a nominal burn or buyback. NEAR’s reported buybacks are the clearest near-term signal, but $3.1 million in one quarter cannot be judged against issuance or trading liquidity without those figures; growing buybacks may still be immaterial to net supply. Verify buybacks, emissions, and Intents volume on-chain before underwriting a supply squeeze.

Zcash’s proposed fee retention is a float constraint, not necessarily a permanent burn: the planned miner distributions beginning in 2031 create a potential overhang, while actual scarcity depends on usage and implementation. The Nov. 5 upgrade is a near-term execution catalyst; privacy-coin regulatory and exchange-access risk remains a structural discount. XRP’s fee destruction appears economically negligible on the supplied figures, but escrow releases alone do not establish that all unlocked tokens are sold. Payment adoption or a change in release/distribution policy could narrow the relative-value gap.

The contrarian risk is performance-chasing: large year-to-date gains may already price in supply narratives, while neither buyback scale nor future fee demand is independently established here. Over 1–3 months, favor confirmation of on-chain flows over headline claims; over 6–18 months, the thesis requires sustained product usage translating into net reduction in freely available tokens.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Avoid chasing Zcash or NEAR solely on year-to-date returns. Set an alert around the Nov. 5 Zcash upgrade; verify launch, fee allocation, and whether retained tokens are actually removed from liquid supply before adding exposure.
• Consider a small, risk-controlled long NEAR / short XRP relative-value position only after checking NEAR buybacks against issuance and liquidity, and sizing to neutralize broad crypto beta. The thesis is net value capture versus weak fee-based offset to XRP supply growth, not a claim that XRP escrow unlocks equal sales.
• For NEAR, track Intents volume, buyback amounts, and circulating-supply changes each quarter. Reduce or exit if usage stalls, buybacks fail to grow, or net supply continues rising despite the reported purchases.
• For Zcash, keep exposure conditional on implementation and accessible liquidity. Falsifiers include a delayed or materially altered upgrade, weak transaction activity, or adverse privacy-coin regulation/exchange delistings; the 2031 miner payout schedule is a future supply-overhang watch item.