Nasdaq-listed company Cypherpunk invests an additional $29 million; will Zcash become the next corporate treasury asset favorite?

As the trend of listed companies allocating Bitcoin has become widespread, a Nasdaq-listed company is turning its attention to a more controversial field. Cypherpunk Technologies recently announced that it has increased its holdings of 56,418.09 ZEC privacy coins at a total cost of approximately $29 million, bringing its total holdings to an astonishing 290,062.67 ZEC, about 1.76% of the circulating supply of Zcash.

Supported by Tyler Winklevoss, co-founder of Gemini, this company’s long-term goal is to hold 5% of the total supply of the Zcash network, elevating privacy assets to a strategic reserve level comparable to Bitcoin. This increase has sparked intense debate in the market: amid tightening global regulations and urgent demand for financial privacy, can privacy-enhanced cryptocurrencies like Zcash truly replicate Bitcoin’s success path and become a new option on corporate balance sheets?

A $29 Million Declaration: Cypherpunk’s “Zcash Treasury” Ambition

Cypherpunk Technologies, listed on Nasdaq under the ticker CYPH, announced its unwavering determination through a brief statement. The company disclosed that it acquired 56,418.09 ZEC at an average price of $514.02 per coin, totaling about $29 million. This was not a spur-of-the-moment move but a key step in its systematic accumulation strategy. With this purchase, Cypherpunk’s total ZEC holdings have risen to 290,062.67 coins, with a market value approaching $155 million at the time of the announcement.

What’s even more intriguing is the company’s background and transformation trajectory. Just a few months ago, in November 2025, it was a biotech firm called Leap Therapeutics. After receiving an investment of $58.9 million from Tyler Winklevoss’s capital, the company completely rebranded, changed its name, and explicitly positioned itself as a “digital asset company focused on Zcash.” This dramatic shift from biotech to cutting-edge crypto assets is inherently compelling. The company’s Chief Investment Officer, Will McEvoy, did not hide his grand vision: “We are working towards the long-term goal of holding 5% of the Zcash network’s supply.” Based on the current circulating supply of about 16.5 million, this means a target holding of over 825,000 ZEC. Cypherpunk has already achieved more than one-third of this goal.

Market feedback has been divided. Since the company’s transformation, its stock price soared from about $0.44 to $1.18, an increase of nearly 170%, reflecting some investors’ enthusiasm for its new narrative. However, after the surge, the stock experienced a significant pullback and now hovers around $1.20, about 60% below its initial Nasdaq debut high. This high volatility precisely reflects market hesitation and anticipation regarding this unprecedented path. Cypherpunk’s case is testing a hypothesis: can a listed company succeed by going all-in on a single, niche, and regulation-sensitive crypto asset?

Cypherpunk’s Zcash Strategic Data Overview

Position Data:

• Quantity added this time: 56,418.09 ZEC
• Cost of this addition: approximately $29 million (average $514.02 per ZEC)
• Total holdings: 290,062.67 ZEC
• Percentage of total circulating supply: about 1.76%
• Average cost basis: approximately $334.41 per ZEC

Company goals and market context:

• Long-term holding target: 5% of Zcash network’s total supply
• Zcash price performance this year: up over 800% in the past 12 months (compared to about -5% for Bitcoin in the same period)
• Historical high of Zcash: $3,191.93 (current price down over 80% from this peak)

Beyond the Bitcoin Narrative: Privacy as a Unique Value Proposition for Corporate Assets

Cypherpunk’s actions have sparked discussions far beyond their capital scale because they touch on a fundamental question: in the context of corporate treasury assets, is privacy an additional feature or a core value proposition? This directly distinguishes the narrative logic of Zcash from that of Bitcoin.

Bitcoin, as “digital gold,” is embraced by enterprises based on its verifiable scarcity, increasing liquidity, and gradually clarified regulatory environment—especially with the approval of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, which lends it a compliant stamp. Corporate holdings of Bitcoin are mainly viewed as a long-term store of value or macro hedge assets, with returns directly tied to price appreciation.

Zcash, on the other hand, offers a completely different value narrative. As a fork of Bitcoin, it also has a fixed cap of 21 million coins and a proof-of-work mechanism. Its revolutionary aspect lies in zk-SNARKs—zero-knowledge proof technology—that allows users to selectively hide transaction sender, receiver, and amount, while still providing necessary transparency through “view keys” for auditing. Cypherpunk and its allies (such as Reliance Global Group) advocate for Zcash as a “privacy hedge” asset. They believe that in today’s environment of pervasive digital surveillance and increasing transparency of financial transactions, enterprises—especially those handling sensitive transactions or operating in geopolitically sensitive regions—have genuine and growing needs to protect their financial privacy.

This narrative elevates Zcash from a mere speculative asset to a strategic tool. It’s not just about capital gains but about maintaining operational autonomy in the future digital economy. Tyler Winklevoss himself describes Zcash as Bitcoin’s “privacy hedge,” believing that under increasing regulatory pressure, privacy coins may regain attention. Of course, this also presents greater challenges: global regulators remain deeply wary of highly anonymous cryptocurrencies, casting a heavy shadow over Zcash’s path to institutional adoption. Cypherpunk’s gamble essentially hinges on future regulatory tolerance and the market’s willingness to price in the value of privacy at a significant premium.

Market Divergence: The Confrontation Between a $1,000 Vision and Deep Correction Risks

On one side is the firm conviction of a listed company building a large position; on the other, the market’s own volatility and analysts’ conflicting forecasts. The price trend of ZEC perfectly illustrates this uncertainty. Over the past 12 months, ZEC has surged over 800%, outperforming Bitcoin’s roughly 5% decline, making it one of the most outstanding assets of the year. However, since reaching a multi-year high in November at around $650, its price has fallen back to about $530, a decline of roughly 17%. Meanwhile, its 24-hour trading volume has halved recently to about $500 million, indicating cooling market activity after the explosive growth.

Faced with such charts, market experts have offered almost opposite opinions. Arthur Hayes has taken a bullish, aggressive stance. He believes ZEC may be gearing up to reach $1,000 and points out that potential liquidity shifts could benefit privacy assets. His logic may be based on macroeconomic changes, with funds reallocating toward non-traditional, censorship-resistant assets.

Conversely, cautious voices are also loud. Analyst Eric Van Tassel warns of a risk of ZEC retracing to around $400, suggesting that the recent rally may lack a solid foundation for continuation. Macro investor Raoul Pal describes Zcash’s rise as “more like capital rotation than a confirmed long-term trend.” These perspectives remind investors that despite the positive signals from corporate accumulation, Zcash’s market size remains relatively small, with liquidity far below mainstream assets, making it more susceptible to large trades and market sentiment. Moreover, even after the surge, ZEC’s price remains over 80% below its all-time high of $3,191.93, with significant historical trapped positions above.

Privacy Coins at a Crossroads: Technology, Regulation, and Future Imagination

Cypherpunk’s case pushes privacy coins to a critical crossroads. One path leads toward broader institutional adoption and financialization. If more companies recognize the “privacy hedge” logic, Zcash and similar assets could develop a small but stable niche market, even spawning related financial derivatives. The other path remains in regulatory gray areas, mainly used by fringe groups and speculators, making it difficult to enter mainstream finance.

The future largely depends on two external factors. First is the evolution of regulatory policies. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF)’s “Travel Rule” is being adopted by various countries, requiring virtual asset service providers to collect and transmit transaction counterparties’ information. This directly conflicts with the core concept of privacy coins. Zcash’s options for “shielded” and “transparent” transactions attempt to balance privacy and compliance, but whether regulators will accept such compromises remains uncertain.

Second is the development and application of privacy-enhancing technologies like zero-knowledge proofs. zk-SNARKs are not exclusive to Zcash; they are being widely adopted in Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solutions to enable private and efficient transactions. This suggests that the future of financial privacy may not depend solely on independent privacy coins but could also be realized through privacy features integrated into mainstream smart contract platforms. Zcash needs to demonstrate that as an independent network and asset, it possesses irreplaceable advantages in technological iteration and ecosystem development.

For investors, Cypherpunk offers an extreme case to observe how enterprises interact with cutting-edge crypto assets. It educates the market that corporate treasury allocations can extend beyond Bitcoin to more functionally specific assets. However, this also entails higher risks: technological complexity, regulatory uncertainty, limited market liquidity, and whether the narrative can be broadly accepted. When considering following such “smart money,” investors must ask themselves: do they believe in “privacy” as a fundamental human right and a future business necessity, or are they merely chasing a short-term market trend led by listed companies? The answer will determine vastly different investment horizons and risk tolerance strategies. In this story, Cypherpunk is both actor and playwright, and every market participant will ultimately be the judge of its script.