Zcash

Grayscale, a major US asset manager, published a report on the 26th analyzing the Treasury's expanded buyback of US government bonds, arguing that the buybacks only address the symptom of rising interest rates and do not resolve the root cause of structural fiscal deficits. On the 19th, the Treasury announced it would double the size of long-term bond buybacks to $4 billion per operation from $2 billion, and on the same day, US public debt surpassed $40 trillion for the first time. Grayscale analyzed that with private capital demand expanding amid AI-related investment, the simultaneous increase in funding needs from both the government and private sector is pushing up interest rates. It stated that the unchecked growth of government debt undermines confidence in fiat currencies, prompting investors to seek alternative stores of value with issuance caps, such as gold and certain cryptocurrencies, and named Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Zcash as beneficiaries. However, the increased amount applies to auctions from September 9 to November 4, with the additional size over regular refinancing plans being only about $14 billion, and some market participants view the impact as limited. Additionally, since Grayscale listed the Zcash Trust as a spot ETF, ZCSH, on the 25th, some suggest the report may be aimed at supporting its own product, while others note that gold's longer track record does not automatically give cryptocurrencies an advantage.

Grayscale officially began trading its Zcash ETF under the ticker ZCSH on the NYSE Arca exchange on Tuesday, becoming the world's first exchange-traded product (ETP) to provide direct exposure to Zcash (ZEC), a cryptocurrency focused on transaction privacy, amid a sharp rise in ZEC's price over the past few days, according to The Block. ZCSH is a conversion of the Grayscale Zcash Trust, which was first launched as a private placement in October 2017. As of Monday, the trust had over $313.5 million in assets under management (AUM). The new ETF charges a fee of 2.5%, and a Grayscale spokesperson said the fee revenue will be used to support and promote the development of the Zcash network. Steve Vanourny, Grayscale's head of index, commented on the timing of the product launch, linking the demand for financial privacy to the growth of artificial intelligence (AI). Over the past few days, Zcash's value has surged about 45%, according to The Block's price data, following our previous report that ZEC broke through the $800 level for the first time in eight years, surpassing its previous high from 2018, boosted by the news of the Grayscale ETF. Prior to the launch, Grayscale had just filed its fifth amendment before the weekend, and the previous amendment also revealed that a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group (DCG), Grayscale's parent company, was considering purchasing about 200,000 ZEC through the trust. Grayscale made clear that ZCSH is an ETP that is not registered under the U.S. Investment Company Act of 1940 (the '40 Act), and therefore is not subject to the same regulations and protections as ETFs or mutual funds registered under that law. Investing in ZCSH carries high risk and extreme volatility, and is not suitable for investors who cannot bear the risk of losing their entire investment. Investing in this fund is not a direct investment in ZEC.

On August 26, 2026, there were several notable developments in the crypto space. The Cabinet approved four capital market laws as part of its digital asset regulatory plan. Meanwhile, Grayscale launched an ETF tracking Zcash, a privacy-focused cryptocurrency. Additionally, token stocks and stablecoins are drawing investor attention. This summary highlights key movements related to Bitcoin and other digital assets on that day.

Altcoins have come back to life, with total market value rising by about 215 billion dollars between August 19 and 22, pushing Total2, the combined market cap of all cryptocurrencies excluding Bitcoin, back above 1 trillion dollars. On Binance, 56 percent of altcoins are trading above their 200-day moving average, a reversal from the prior period when 80 to 85 percent of tokens were below that level. Zcash jumped 71.3 percent over the week to near 832 dollars, leading all top 50 assets, while XRP gained 48.7 percent to near 1.47 dollars and Hyperliquid added 38.4 percent to near 80 dollars. Pump.fun rose 81 percent over the week after announcing zero trading fees for tokens on Solana. Even Bitcoin and Ethereum gained more than 20 percent over the week, with Bitcoin trading near 77,000 dollars and Ethereum near 2,437 dollars.

Zcash has surged past $814 for the first time in eight years, fully recovering from its June drop to $250 caused by a vulnerability in the Orchard pool. The privacy coin's market capitalization climbed to $13.74 billion, driven by the upcoming listing of the first spot Zcash fund, the Zcash ETF. The rally has sparked community discussion about whether Zcash could eventually flip XRP by market capitalization.

US crypto asset manager Grayscale filed its fifth amended registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on August 21, as it works toward a spot ETF for the crypto asset Zcash. If approved, it would become the first ETF in the United States to directly hold Zcash. Zcash is known for privacy features that can keep transaction information confidential, and it enables shielded transactions using zero-knowledge proof technology known as zk-SNARKs. Grayscale currently operates the Grayscale Zcash Trust, an investment product that holds Zcash, and aims to convert that product into an ETF listed on NYSE Arca. Following these developments, the price of Zcash rose 44.8 percent in 24 hours, briefly climbing to 848.65 dollars.

US-based Cipherpunk Technologies has brought online the world's largest Zcash mining fleet, deploying a total hashrate of 4.2 gigasols per second across facilities in the United States. The company acquired the mining equipment through a stock-based transaction with Winklevoss Capital valued at 33.33 million dollars. Cipherpunk said the mining operation will strengthen its strategy of holding and accumulating ZEC as a treasury asset, while generating funds for additional ZEC acquisitions and investments in privacy technology.

DCG-controlled mining platform Fortitude has officially confirmed the acquisition of a new 12.5 MW data center in Prosser, Nebraska. The announcement was shared by Digital Currency Group CEO Barry Silbert, highlighting a major infrastructure milestone for Zcash mining within his portfolio.

Zcash is set to activate its Ironwood network upgrade at block height 3,428,143 on July 28. The crypto community is counting down to the event, which will introduce security improvements to the privacy-focused blockchain.

The privacy coin market outperformed the broader crypto market after Chinese prosecutors proposed in a research paper that the use of crypto mixers and privacy coins should be treated as circumstances giving rise to a presumption of money laundering intent. The total market cap of the privacy coin sector rose 7% to 16.1 billion dollars, with Zcash up 10.5% and Monero up 2.5%. The paper, published on the official website of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, recommends measures such as mandating the preparation of fund flow analysis reports during investigations and introducing evidentiary rules that treat mixer usage as a circumstance giving rise to a presumption of intent, in order to close the law enforcement gaps created by blockchain anonymity.

Zcash has recorded one of the largest volume expansions among major digital assets, with trading activity rising by more than 28 percent over the past 24 hours, while Bitcoin and Ethereum continue to dominate headlines.

Zcash rose 10 percent. The development team fixed a vulnerability in Orchard that could lead to counterfeiting, and announced progress toward introducing a new shielded pool called Ironwood to restore verifiability of the supply. The circulating supply of ZEC is about 16.76 million coins, reaching roughly 79.8 percent of the maximum supply of 21 million. Trading volume increased about 40 percent to 600 million dollars. Meanwhile, prediction markets remain cautious about the possibility of another rally toward 700 dollars.

Europe has reportedly mandated identity verification for every Bitcoin transaction, a development that is drawing attention to privacy coins such as Zcash. Some recent reports claim that the ID verification requirement is part of broader regulatory efforts, though details remain unclear. The move has sparked discussion about the future of transactional privacy and the potential shift toward cryptocurrencies designed to obscure sender and receiver identities.