Grayscale’s Zcash ETF has begun trading on the NYSE Arca exchange under the ticker ZCSH, giving investors broader access to spot exposure to the cryptocurrency ZEC and moving the nine-year-old fund away from over-the-counter markets.
Grayscale Investments announced the launch on 25 August, describing the product as the world’s first exchange-traded product to offer spot ZEC exposure through a structure that removes the need for investors to buy, store and safeguard the cryptocurrency themselves.
The Securities and Exchange Commission registration confirmed that Grayscale changed the vehicle’s name from Grayscale Zcash Trust (ZEC) to The Zcash ETF on 24 August. The filing registered ZCSH shares under Section 12(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and specified NYSE Arca as the exchange where the securities would trade.
NYSE Arca separately certified that ZCSH had been approved for listing and registration in a letter submitted to the SEC on 24 August. That certification completed the exchange-level process required to transfer the fund from over-the-counter quotations to a national securities exchange.
Before the launch, shares of the fund were quoted on the OTCQX marketplace under the same ZCSH ticker and were available to accredited investors, according to a registration statement dated 21 August. The shares closed at $45.34 on 20 August, representing a 1% discount to net asset value. Since 2021, however, they had traded at discounts of as much as 55%.
The ETF launch came as ZEC recorded a sharp rise in value. The cryptocurrency was trading at $842.22 at 09:09 EDT on 25 August, up $337.84, or 66.98%, over the previous week. An accompanying chart showed the rally coinciding with the start of trading for ZCSH.
The increase in ZEC’s price also improved the economics of the cryptocurrency’s proof-of-work network. An analysis published on 25 August estimated that Zcash mining generated $727.30 per megawatt-hour, approximately 3.3 times the estimated return from high-performance computing, as ZEC approached $890.
Investors can access current fund information through The Zcash ETF website. The product offers indirect exposure to ZEC without requiring holders to manage cryptocurrency wallets or private keys. Grayscale said the arrangement provides a familiar way to invest in an asset designed to support private and decentralised transfers.
“As AI reshapes how financial activity can be monitored, we believe demand for genuine financial privacy will only grow. With ZCSH, Grayscale is building on its history of industry firsts by giving investors a way to gain exposure to one of the market’s leading privacy-focused assets,” Grayscale Head of Index Steve Vanourny stated.
Zcash allows users to choose between transparent transfers and shielded transactions. The latter conceal the sender, recipient and amount, while viewing keys allow users to disclose selected information to auditors, counterparties or regulators. That optional privacy distinguishes Zcash from transaction systems in which activity is permanently public.
The network’s privacy model was partly rebuilt in July after a researcher identified a flaw in the Orchard shielded pool that could potentially have been used to create counterfeit ZEC. The price fell by about 50% before an emergency patch was issued.
The Ironwood upgrade retired Orchard and moved new shielded transfers to a separate pool. It also limited withdrawals to amounts that could be verified as having been deposited and introduced a recovery mechanism for certain future risks linked to quantum computing.
Corporate involvement in Zcash had increased before the ETF began trading. Cypherpunk Technologies established a United States-based mining fleet representing about 18% of the network’s hashrate after completing a $33.33m equity transaction with Winklevoss Capital.
The Zcash Foundation ended the first quarter of 2026 with $36.7m in net liquid assets and a clean bill…
