On-chain researcher ZachXBT may have determined why privacy coin Monero (XMR) surged as much as 40% early Monday: Someone probably got hacked.

ZachXBT reported that 3,520 bitcoin (BTC) ($330.7 million) was drained from an address and then swapped for XMR.

Market data shows a spike in volatility coming from an excess in buy orders for the XMR-BTC order book.

Market observers initially had a hard time determining what caused the major spike as metrics such as active wallets and network activity hadn’t risen accordingly.

Liquidity for XMR has been limited during the past few months as major exchanges delisted the privacy token in a bid to fight dark net markets. The lack of liquidity would have made any sizeable buy a catalyst for outsized pricing gains. CoinGecko data shows that the order depth for XMR is significantly smaller than for tokens of similar market cap.

XMR is trading for over $300 according to CoinDesk markets data.

Bitcoin (BTC) returned to positive territory for the year for the first time in almost two months, approaching $95,000 and erasing a drop of as much as 18%.

Its current performance, up less 1.5% since Dec. 31, places it between gold, which has gained 24% and the Nasdaq 100, which is down over 7%. As a result, the narrative positioning bitcoin as either a leveraged tech stock or digital gold is leaning slightly toward the digital gold narrative. But only just.

Analyzing bitcoin’s correlation coefficients over a 30-day moving average, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization now shows a strong correlation of 0.70 with gold and a weaker 0.53 correlation with the Nasdaq 100. This suggests bitcoin is aligning more closely with gold’s behavior than with tech equities. Correlation values can run between 1, a strong positive correlation, and -1, a strong negative correlation.

Last week, the bitcoin price rose 10%, its strongest performance since the week ended Nov. 17 during price run following President Donald Trump’s election victory.

Meanwhile, Trump’s tariffs continue to feed economic uncertainty. U.S. levies on Chinese goods were raised to 145% earlier this month, leading to a significant drop in cargo shipment demand, according to Bloomberg. As noted in the report, major retailers like Walmart are warning that empty shelves and higher prices could return, reminiscent of the COVID era.

Crypto markets traded flat during the Asia morning hours, with bitcoin (BTC) trading above $94,000 and the CoinDesk 20, a measure of the performance of the largest cryptocurrencies, little changed.

XRP led majors gains with a 4% move higher from the past day, driven by a ProShares ETF approval that will see three futures-tracked products go live on April 30. Cardano’s ADA, BNB Chain’s BNB and ether (ETH) showed moves between 1% and 3%.

One exception to the relatively dormant market has been privacy coin Monero (XMR), up more than 40% in the past 24 hours. It traded over $320 in Asian morning hours Monday, a level last seen in May 2021.

Trading volumes zoomed from an average of $50 million on a 7-day rolling basis to over $220 million in the past 24 hours.

«There appears to be no clear catalyst behind $XMR’s recent rally,” Min Junng, a research analyst at Presto told CoinDesk in a Telegram message, Network activity remains consistent with typical levels, suggesting the move may be more speculative in nature.»

The privacy-centric token is based on the CryptoNote protocol, which ensures that all its transactions are unlinkable and untraceable.

Sentiment among traders carries over from last week with a near-term bullish view intact but with a cautious attitude as macroeconomic headwinds remain.

“Bitcoin has maintained a relatively stable range above $92k as Trump’s administration soften tariff policies of the crypto industry,” Jupiter Zheng, Partner, Liquid Fund and Research, HashKey Capital, told CoinDesk in a Telegram message. “This crypto-friendly attitude can boost Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to develop their own market direction, less correlated with US equities, and enable more growth and innovation in the industry.»

Broader equity markets showed mixed movements on Monday. A regional gauge advanced 0.6% while futures for the S&P 500 declined 0.6%, indicating a four-day US equities rally may snap. Gold pared last week’s gains after a record-breaking rally. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was also flat as were other major indexes around Asia.