Nasdaq-listed Cypherpunk Technologies has expanded its crypto holdings by purchasing recent Zcash tokens for roughly $29 million.
According to Tuesday's announcement, the corporate purchased 56,418 Zcash (ZEC) at a mean price of $514 per token. The purchase brings Cypherpunk’s total supply to 290,062.67 ZEC, which is roughly 1.76% of the token’s circulating supply.
Launched in 2016 as a Bitcoin fork, Zcash is a privacy-focused blockchain that uses zero-knowledge proof to confirm transactions without revealing the sender, recipient, or transaction amount. Like Bitcoin, its native token also has a cap of 21 million.
According to Cypherpunk Chief Investment Officer Will McEvoy, the corporate is aiming to accumulate 5% of the entire ZEC offering and is “well positioned for a market that’s reassessing the societal importance of knowledge protection.”
The former biotech company called Leap Therapeutics was renamed Cypherpunk Technologies in November and is a Zcash-focused digital asset company. According to data from Google Finance, the corporate's shares have risen nearly 170% to about $1.18 on the time of writing, from $0.44 before the rebrand.
Cypherpunk is backed by Winkevoss Capital, the enterprise capital firm of Gemini founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss.
Source: Google Finance
Zcash outperforms Bitcoin as privacy debate resurfaces
According to data from CoinGecko, Zcash is up greater than 800% this yr, rising to about $536 per token from about $58 a yr ago, while Bitcoin (BTC) has fallen about 5% over the identical period.
The performance follows renewed privacy debates in 2025, driven by advances in AI and digitalization in addition to growing support from influential crypto commentators.
Source: CoinGecko
Several crypto industry figures, including former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes and Helius co-founder Mert Mumtaz, have highlighted Zcash's privacy features as a consider the token's recent performance, which has outperformed much of the broader altcoin market.
Alex Bornstein, executive director of the Zcash Foundation, told Cointelegraph that the asset's recent momentum reflects organic demand driven by increasing concerns about government overreach and digital privacy.
On Monday, Hayes wrote on In a recent podcast, he said markets could see recent liquidity through the Fed's behind-the-scenes funding tools, a shift he said would favor zero-knowledge technologies and privacy tokens like ZEC.
Still, not everyone seems to be convinced that an uptrend is imminent. Analyst Eric Van Quaste warned on Saturday that a “corrective pullback” to $400 was possible.
