Grayscale began trading the first U.S. spot ETF for Zcash (ZEC) on Tuesday, charging 2.5% annually as ZEC traded near $851, its highest level since 2018.
Key Points:
- Grayscale converted its Zcash Trust into an exchange-traded fund listed on NYSE Arca under the ticker ZCSH.
- The fund carries a 2.5% annual sponsor fee, with proceeds routed back into the Zcash network.
- ZEC has erased a June selloff and gained close to 70% over the past week.
Grayscale Zcash ETF Lists On NYSE Arca
The fund launched Tuesday morning on NYSE Arca under the ticker ZCSH, turning the firm's existing Zcash Trust into an exchange-traded product open to ordinary brokerage accounts. Grayscale called it the first exchange-traded product anywhere to hold ZEC directly rather than track it through futures or swaps. Zcash arrived in 2016 with a 21-million-coin cap and optional shielded transfers.
The sponsor fee runs at an annual 2.5%, accrues daily and is payable in ZEC, well above what most spot crypto funds in the United States charge investors today. Revenue from that fee will be routed back into the Zcash network to fund promotion and development, a Grayscale spokesperson said.
As of Monday, the trust reported more than $313.5 million in assets under management. It held shares on the OTCQX marketplace from October 2021 until this week, a venue where the quoted price often drifted far from the value of the tokens behind it. Coinbase Custody keeps the tokens, Bank of New York Mellon serves as transfer agent, and Jane Street Capital and Virtu Americas will create and redeem shares.
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Steve Vanourny Ties Privacy To AI
Steve Vanourny, head of index at Grayscale, said demand for genuine financial privacy will only grow as artificial intelligence reshapes how financial activity can be monitored. He argued that Zcash has a durable long-term role to play and that the ETF wrapper gives investors a familiar structure through which to reach it.
The fee still bites, and an investor who holds for a decade would surrender close to a quarter of the position to costs alone. Ownership raises a second question. A subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, Grayscale's parent, is in nonbinding talks to contribute about 200,000 ZEC in exchange for shares, a stake worth roughly 34% of the enlarged fund.
Zcash Price Rally Meets ZCSH Debut
Zcash changed hands near $851 on Tuesday, giving it a market value close to $14.37 billion, with 24-hour futures turnover reported at $9.54 billion. The token has wiped out a June selloff and added close to 70% over the past week.
Grayscale has run this conversion playbook before, and more than once. It turned its Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) trusts into ETFs after a long court fight with the Securities and Exchange Commission ended in the firm's favor. Funds tracking XRP (XRP), Solana (SOL) and Litecoin (LTC) followed.
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