FIRO, a privacy-focused cryptocurrency formerly known as Zcoin, has seen a notable price surge over the past 24 hours. Notably, the coin is riding a wave of renewed attention fueled by a significant protocol upgrade.  According to data from CoinGecko, FIRO recorded an over 55% increase in its price in a single day. The price surge saw the coin hit a four-year high of $5.33, with its market cap rising above $100 million.  JUST IN: $FIRO hits a four-year high of $5.33 as privacy coins continue to trend. View chart: https://t.co/wptUF4zDUL pic.twitter.com/WrFt0ksdJQ — CoinGecko (@coingecko) November 17, 2025 Notably, the coin has experienced a mild correction and is currently trading at $5.07 at press time. However, it is still up 46%, more than the broader cryptocurrency market, which is down 0.4% at the time of writing.  FIRO Surges Ahead of Hard Fork The biggest catalyst for FIRO’s recent price surge is the ecosystem’s upcoming hard fork. The upgrade, which is scheduled for November 19, 2025, at block 1,205,100, introduces new features to the Firo ecosystem. The hard fork will make Spark Names transferable. Spark Names are digital domains within the Firo ecosystem that allow users to anonymously conduct transactions on the platform.  Previously, Spark Names functioned as private addresses used solely for wallet identification. However, with the upgrade, users can now trade these domain names within the Firo ecosystem, creating a “FIRO-native economy.” The upgrade is also expected to lower GPU memory requirements for miners to support 8GB GPUs. Thus, drawing attention from miners and node operators who will need to update their nodes and masternodes before the hard fork. This reduction is expected to boost miner participation and decentralization. Meanwhile, the recent rally builds on the momentum generated by Firo’s earlier launch. In early November, Firo launched its Spark Assets, which allows users to mint private tokens, including stablecoins and NFTs, that share Firo’s anonymity pool.  Every time users create mints or transact with a private asset, they burn FIRO tokens. This system introduces a deflationary mechanism to the token.  The launch of Spark Assets converts Firo from a private coin into a privacy-native infrastructure layer. With the FIRO token fueling this privacy-native ecosystem, demand for the token is expected to increase. Thus, it is unsurprising that the recent upgrade announcement sparked a major price rally, as investors’ interest heightens. What Is Firo? Firo, formerly known as Zcoin, is a privacy-focused cryptocurrency ecosystem that offers users complete anonymity on their on-chain transactions. The protocol uses advanced cryptographic techniques, including zero-knowledge proofs, to provide untraceable transactions.  Firo’s core privacy protocol is the Lelantus Spark, which enables trustless transactions. It does this by allowing users to burn their existing coins and later redeem them for new ones without a prior transaction history. In addition to its privacy features, Firo’s blockchain is secured by a hybrid Proof-of-Work consensus known as FiroPoW, and a system of masternodes. These systems help defend against 51% attacks while providing fast transaction finality.  Interest in Privacy Coins Soars  FIRO’s recent price surge comes at a time when interest in privacy coins is increasing. With rising concerns surrounding data privacy and digital sovereignty, investors are directing their focus to privacy coins. Like FIRO, several other privacy-focused cryptocurrencies, such as ZCash, recorded similar spikes, as investors confidence continues to grow. According to CoinMarketCap data, the privacy coin market cap is currently sitting at over $69 billion.  The post Privacy Coin FIRO Jumps 55% Ahead of Upgrade appeared first on CoinTab News.FIRO, a privacy-focused cryptocurrency formerly known as Zcoin, has seen a notable price surge over the past 24 hours. Notably, the coin is riding a wave of renewed attention fueled by a significant protocol upgrade.  According to data from CoinGecko, FIRO recorded an over 55% increase in its price in a single day. The price surge saw the coin hit a four-year high of $5.33, with its market cap rising above $100 million.  JUST IN: $FIRO hits a four-year high of $5.33 as privacy coins continue to trend. View chart: https://t.co/wptUF4zDUL pic.twitter.com/WrFt0ksdJQ — CoinGecko (@coingecko) November 17, 2025 Notably, the coin has experienced a mild correction and is currently trading at $5.07 at press time. However, it is still up 46%, more than the broader cryptocurrency market, which is down 0.4% at the time of writing.  FIRO Surges Ahead of Hard Fork The biggest catalyst for FIRO’s recent price surge is the ecosystem’s upcoming hard fork. The upgrade, which is scheduled for November 19, 2025, at block 1,205,100, introduces new features to the Firo ecosystem. The hard fork will make Spark Names transferable. Spark Names are digital domains within the Firo ecosystem that allow users to anonymously conduct transactions on the platform.  Previously, Spark Names functioned as private addresses used solely for wallet identification. However, with the upgrade, users can now trade these domain names within the Firo ecosystem, creating a “FIRO-native economy.” The upgrade is also expected to lower GPU memory requirements for miners to support 8GB GPUs. Thus, drawing attention from miners and node operators who will need to update their nodes and masternodes before the hard fork. This reduction is expected to boost miner participation and decentralization. Meanwhile, the recent rally builds on the momentum generated by Firo’s earlier launch. In early November, Firo launched its Spark Assets, which allows users to mint private tokens, including stablecoins and NFTs, that share Firo’s anonymity pool.  Every time users create mints or transact with a private asset, they burn FIRO tokens. This system introduces a deflationary mechanism to the token.  The launch of Spark Assets converts Firo from a private coin into a privacy-native infrastructure layer. With the FIRO token fueling this privacy-native ecosystem, demand for the token is expected to increase. Thus, it is unsurprising that the recent upgrade announcement sparked a major price rally, as investors’ interest heightens. What Is Firo? Firo, formerly known as Zcoin, is a privacy-focused cryptocurrency ecosystem that offers users complete anonymity on their on-chain transactions. The protocol uses advanced cryptographic techniques, including zero-knowledge proofs, to provide untraceable transactions.  Firo’s core privacy protocol is the Lelantus Spark, which enables trustless transactions. It does this by allowing users to burn their existing coins and later redeem them for new ones without a prior transaction history. In addition to its privacy features, Firo’s blockchain is secured by a hybrid Proof-of-Work consensus known as FiroPoW, and a system of masternodes. These systems help defend against 51% attacks while providing fast transaction finality.  Interest in Privacy Coins Soars  FIRO’s recent price surge comes at a time when interest in privacy coins is increasing. With rising concerns surrounding data privacy and digital sovereignty, investors are directing their focus to privacy coins. Like FIRO, several other privacy-focused cryptocurrencies, such as ZCash, recorded similar spikes, as investors confidence continues to grow. According to CoinMarketCap data, the privacy coin market cap is currently sitting at over $69 billion.  The post Privacy Coin FIRO Jumps 55% Ahead of Upgrade appeared first on CoinTab News.

        Highlights:  Michael Saylor’s Strategy added $836M in Bitcoin, extending its streak of acquisitions. Strategy now holds 649,870 BTC, valued at $48.37 billion at an average price of $74,433. The company raised funds for the purchase through preferred stock issuance, avoiding common share sales.  The prominent corporate Bitcoin holder, Strategy, made another major acquisition last week. The company added 8,178 more BTC to its collection for $835.6 million at an average price of $102,171 per coin. The total Bitcoin holdings of the company grew to 649,870 BTC, valued at $48.37 billion, for an average price of $74,433 per coin following this latest purchase. This acquisition happened at a time when the cryptocurrency market was undergoing significant volatility. The price of Bitcoin has recently declined from highs of $107,000 to $93,000. As of this writing, BTC is trading around $93,619, down by almost 1% over the last 24 hours. Despite these fluctuations, Strategy has continued, showing its confidence in Bitcoin as a store of value. Strategy used its preferred stock issue to fund this bitcoin purchase instead of relying on the sale of common shares. The company raised $704 million through its STRE (Steam) offering and another 136.1 million from its sales of STRC, STRF, and STRK preferred stocks. This strategy gave the firm the ability to avoid diluting current shareholders through the issuance of more common stock, which would have been detrimental to the current performance of MSTR stock.  Strategy has acquired 8,178 BTC for ~$835.6 million at ~$102,171 per bitcoin and has achieved BTC Yield of 27.8% YTD 2025. As of 11/16/2025, we hodl 649,870 $BTC acquired for ~$48.37 billion at ~$74,433 per bitcoin. $MSTR $STRC $STRD $STRE $STRF $STRK https://t.co/HI1TeYOvQ9 — Michael Saylor (@saylor) November 17, 2025  Strategy Remains Confident Amid Stock Price Pressure Strategy adding $836M in Bitcoin coincides with the sustained pressure on the company’s stock price. MSTR stock has declined sharply and has lost more than 30% of its value over recent months. Currently, MSTR stock is trading at around $195, a drop of 1.45% since the previous close. In addition, the purchase occurred as the firm saw its market Net Asset Value (mNAV) decline over the last few months. Its mNAV has plummeted to 0.94 compared to the year-to-date high of more than 3. However, the metric has recovered to 1.18 as of this writing. Source: Strategy However, Michael Saylor and his team have reaffirmed their commitment to Bitcoin. The company has been purchasing Bitcoin on a daily basis regardless of the market fluctuations. Recently, Saylor refuted claims that the company was selling its Bitcoin during the price drop, noting that the company has been steadily buying additional BTC. Bitcoin Strategy Continues Despite Market Skepticism Peter Schiff, a renowned Bitcoin skeptic, recently raised questions about the strategy used by Michael Saylor. Schiff denounced the financial framework of Strategy, labeling it a fraud. According to him, the company will find itself in financial instability due to its overdependence on high-yield preferred shares. As Schiff points out, the business model of the company has the potential to create a death spiral in case investors lose their confidence and offload their holdings within the preferred shares.  MSTR’s business model relies on income-oriented funds buying its “high-yield” preferred shares. But those published yields will never actually be paid. Once fund managers realize this they’ll dump the preferreds & $MSTR won’t be able to issue any more, setting off a death spiral. — Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) November 16, 2025  Even with these criticisms, Strategy stands firm in its belief that Bitcoin is a valuable asset. The firm has amassed Bitcoin over the years, including in both bull and bear market cycles.    eToro Platform    Best Crypto Exchange   Over 90 top cryptos to trade Regulated by top-tier entities User-friendly trading app 30+ million users    9.9   Visit eToro eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk. Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment, and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong.