Grayscale is aiming to convert its Zcash Trust into a spot exchange-traded fund in a move that could mark one of the first investment vehicles linked to a privacy coin.
In a Wednesday filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Grayscale submitted a Form S-3 registration statement, signaling its intention to convert its fund tied to Zcash (ZEC) into a spot ETF. The move followed Grayscale’s launch of other spot ETFs linked to cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Dogecoin (DOGE), and XRP (XRP).
The simplified form with the regulator could allow Grayscale to list the Zcash ETF on the NYSE Arca. According to data from Nansen, the price of ZEC increased by more than 50% in the past 30 days and by 1,050% in the past 12 months, reaching $519.62 at the time of publication.
Since the SEC initially approved the listing and trading of spot Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024, several asset management companies, including Grayscale, Bitwise, BlackRock, and others, have expanded their offerings to include exposure to other cryptocurrencies. Grayscale debuted the first spot DOGE ETF this week, which saw $1.4 million in volume on Monday.
Potential Shift Towards Privacy Coins
Earlier this month, Leap Therapeutics announced it would use a $50 million investment from Winklevoss Capital, the venture capital firm founded by Gemini creators Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, to acquire ZEC tokens as part of its cryptocurrency treasury strategy.
ETF analyst Eric Balchunas later argued on social media that the privacy coin could potentially pull support away from Bitcoin, though many users expressed skepticism regarding his claims.