Monero (XMR) Has Quietly Staged One of the Most Impressive Rallies

The privacy coin is trading at $344.29 as of May 15, up just over 1% on the day and 17.86% over the past week.

Monero (XMR) has quietly staged one of the most impressive rallies in the cryptocurrency market over the past 12 months, rising more than 150% year-on-year as investors return to investing in privacy-focused digital assets.

The privacy coin is currently trading at $344.29, showing a daily increase of just over 1% and weekly gains of 17.86%. Although its daily performance appears modest, XMR has seen a steady build-up in momentum since early April, when it bottomed out at around $165 during a broader market sell-off that saw Bitcoin (BTC) drop sharply to the $75,000 level.

This momentum has seen Monero's monthly gains hit 58.97% year-to-date as the asset has more than doubled in value, pushing its market capitalization to $6.32 billion and securing the 24th spot among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap.

What's behind the Monero price rally?

The XMR rally appears to be underpinned by a confluence of factors, including a more favorable regulatory tone toward privacy tools and anticipation surrounding a major technical upgrade.

For instance, the upcoming Full-Chain Membership Proofs (FCMP++) upgrade, expected later in 2025, is being touted as one of the most substantial improvements to Monero's privacy infrastructure yet, further enhancing the protocol's resistance to traceability without affecting efficiency.

In addition, speculation around relisting activity from centralized exchanges has fueled further bullish sentiment. Although still unconfirmed, renewed exchange access would represent a significant shift in institutional openness to the privacy coin sector, which has faced difficulties in recent years.

Given its relatively low liquidity and a concentrated holder base, XMR tends to react sharply to new capital inflows, usually amplifying price movements compared to larger-cap cryptocurrencies.

The best time to spend Monero is when the price is going up. The more its used, the more valuable it becomes. The more merchants adopt it. Monero stagnates if everyone just lets their Monero sit in wallets unused.Use your money. You can always spend and replace.

In parallel, Monero has also been pulled into the spotlight following reports of a suspected $330 million Bitcoin theft. While the incident is still unfolding with limited details available, some analysts speculate that the perpetrators may have used privacy-focused tools like XMR to obfuscate fund flows, boosting short-term demand for the coin.

This narrative has driven up trading activity and renewed debate around the role of privacy assets in the evolving digital financial landscape.