The Winklevoss twins want to put Zcash on Nasdaq. Winklevoss Asset Services filed an S-1 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Oct. 6 for a spot Zcash ETF under the proposed ticker WINK — and ZEC climbed more than 5 percent in 24 hours to trade above 1,376 USD on the news.
By Diego Rivera | October 8, 2026
For everyday investors, the filing matters because it could add a second easy way to own Zcash through an ordinary brokerage account. Instead of wrestling with private keys and crypto exchanges, you would buy a share on Nasdaq that is backed by real ZEC — the privacy-focused coin that lets users shield transaction details. The registration describes direct ownership of the tokens, not exposure through futures contracts or other derivatives.
How the WINK Fund Would Work
Under the proposed structure, Gemini Trust Company — the crypto exchange founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss — would serve as the fund’s custodian, holding the actual Zcash tokens. That keeps the coins in the family, so to speak.
The filing uses what is called a cash creation and redemption model. In plain English: big institutional players called authorized participants would deliver cash when creating new ETF shares and receive cash when redeeming them. They would never need to touch ZEC themselves. The fund would use that cash to buy ZEC, which Gemini then holds. Think of it like depositing money at a bank teller while the vault handling happens entirely behind the counter.
- Ticker: WINK, listing on Nasdaq once regulatory clearance is in place
- Custodian: Gemini Trust Company
- Structure: spot fund holding ZEC directly, cash-based share transactions
- Status: S-1 filed Oct. 6 — no trading launch date yet, subject to SEC clearance
The Core Conflict: Fresh Optimism, Existing Outflows
Here is the twist. The Winklevoss filing lands just as the only existing U.S. Zcash ETF is bleeding. Grayscale converted its nine-year-old Zcash Trust into an exchange-traded product on NYSE Arca on Aug. 25 under the ticker ZCSH, with roughly 304 million USD in assets at launch, Coinbase as custodian and a 2.50 percent management fee directed toward Zcash ecosystem development.
But per SoSoValue data, ZCSH recorded 93.56 million USD in withdrawals for the week ended Oct. 2 — its first negative week since late August. Daily net outflows hit 30.25 million USD on Sep. 30 and 26.93 million USD on Oct. 2. The fund still holds approximately 751 million USD in net assets with cumulative net inflows of about 212.56 million USD, and Grayscale executed a three-for-one share split on Sep. 30 that raised outstanding shares from 7,989,300 to 23,967,900 without changing anyone’s total value.
The price backdrop explains the redemptions. Citing CoinGecko historical data, ZEC closed at 1,653.12 USD on Sep. 26 and at 1,304.32 USD on Oct. 3 — a steep pullback in a single week. Competition from WINK could also pressure ZCSH’s relatively high fee, which would be a quiet win for investors in both products.
The Winklevoss Zcash Empire Behind the Filing
The ETF is not the twins’ only Zcash bet. The registration names Cypherpunk Technologies, a Nasdaq-listed company, as a partner for Zcash network services. In August, Cypherpunk bought a Bitmain Z15 Pro mining fleet plus hosting agreements from entities affiliated with Winklevoss Capital in a deal valued at 33.33 million USD — paid not in cash but through a pre-funded warrant covering 43,290,042 common shares, with Cypherpunk stock valued at 0.77 USD per share and a warrant exercise price of 0.001 USD.
At the time, that fleet represented roughly 18 percent of Zcash’s total network computing power at U.S. hosting facilities, with estimated monthly production of about 7,800 ZEC, subject to mining difficulty. “Up until now, investors have had limited options for Zcash mining exposure,” Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss said in the announcement. Custody, mining, now an ETF — one family is building an entire Zcash supply chain.
What This Means for Your Portfolio
ZEC traded slightly above 1,376 USD after the filing news, per CoinMarketCap figures, recovering from a range near 1,290–1,300 USD earlier in the week. Technical levels cited in market reports put resistance at 1,375–1,380 USD — exactly where price is pressing now — with support at 1,355–1,360 USD and then 1,340–1,345 USD.
A second catalyst is coming: developer Sean Bowe’s schedule puts an Oct. 20 decision on the activation height for the NU7 network upgrade, proposed for Nov. 5 mainnet launch after an Oct. 6 testnet activation. NU7 would cut target block spacing from 75 seconds to 25 seconds — faster confirmations, like shorter lines at checkout — while reducing the per-block reward so daily coin issuance stays the same. It would also disable version 4 transactions, sealing off the legacy Sprout privacy pool.
The Verdict
A second spot Zcash ETF application from a name as recognizable as Winklevoss is a genuine vote of confidence in privacy coins’ Wall Street future — arriving right as the first fund suffers outflows and the token recovers from a sharp drop. If WINK clears regulation, investors get choice, competition on fees, and another sign that even the most privacy-centric cryptocurrencies are being folded into mainstream finance. Volatile? Very. But the direction of travel is hard to ignore.
The cryptocurrency market remains highly volatile. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
cash create and redeem with gemini as custodian means the twins collect fees on the fund and the vault. winklevoss vertical integration never sleeps
A privacy coin ETF where the regulator can inspect everything is a fun contradiction. The SEC will have to figure out what shielded pools even mean for a fund structure before WINK goes anywhere near approval.
Exactly my first thought. The S-1 says direct ownership of actual ZEC with Gemini Trust as custodian, so somewhere there has to be language about how much sits in transparent versus shielded addresses.
two ZEC fund filings in the same season after a decade of the SEC treating privacy coins like they were radioactive. the politics moved faster than the tech ever did
WINK as a ticker is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. zec up 5 percent above 1376 on an s-1 filing, classic buy the rumor setup
buy the rumor then what, the sec has not even acknowledged the filing yet. zcash pumps on hope every single cycle
Fair, but the cash create and redeem model is the same structure that got the bitcoin and ether funds approved. If the SEC objection was about market manipulation surveillance rather than the privacy tech itself, this is not the wildest S-1 on their desk.
true but gemini custody is at least a real vault. the twins overdo the branding for sure, though their compliance paperwork tends to hold up better than most
petra vos asking the right question. nobody at the SEC has even logged the filing yet and ZEC is already 5 percent up. s-1 pumps are the oldest trade in this market
ZEC jumping 5 percent to above 1376 on a single filing shows how starved this market is for catalysts. Seen this movie with every coin that gets an S-1, pump first, serious questions later.
1376 on an s-1 nobody at the sec has even read yet. the pump is the market pricing a filing fee
starved for catalysts is right, ZEC did a 5 percent lap on a filing fee. wait till the sec comment letter drops and the same bags go silent
WINK as a ticker is doing a lot of heavy lifting too. The twins never miss a chance to stamp the family name on the product itself.
Of course it is. These are the guys who named an exchange Gemini and a dollar token after themselves. Branding aside, Gemini as custodian means the twins control the pipes end to end, which is presumably the whole point of filing it themselves instead of waiting for a third party.
a privacy coin on nasdaq with gemini as custodian is genuinely wild. shielded pools meet quarterly filings, curious how the sec handles that tension
Right, that is the part nobody specs out. The ETF wrapper will almost certainly hold ZEC in transparent addresses only, since an auditor can verify those on-chain. Shielded pools are exactly what a fund accountant cannot reconcile, so the privacy part mostly stays at the protocol level, not inside the product.
transparent only holdings makes it a zec fund with none of the privacy, which is honestly the only version sec staff ever lets through
which is exactly why it might clear. an ETF was never for people who need shielding, its for the fidelity crowd who want ZEC in a taxable account
the fidelity crowd line is the whole thesis. nobody buying WINK on nasdaq ever runs a shielded transaction, and thats fine. its an exposure product wearing a privacy badge
sigbjorn is right that the fund will hold transparent ZEC only, which is funny when you think about it. a privacy coin ETF where the auditor can see every holding on-chain. the privacy stays for plebs, the ETF is for fidelity accounts