Grayscale Zcash ETF Tops $463M as ZEC Nears $1,200

Grayscale’s Zcash ETF (ZCSH) held $463.2 million in assets as of Sept. 4, while Zcash (ZEC) traded near $1,185, a gain of 11% over the previous 24 hours. The token entered the list of the ten largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.

The fund converted from Grayscale’s Zcash Trust and began trading on the NYSE Arca on Aug. 25. The trust had operated since 2017.

Shares of ZCSH closed at $83.77 on Sept. 4, up 7.62% for the day, and were trading at $82.20 in after-hours. The fund’s net asset value per share was $83.48, within a 52-week range of $3.54 to $84.23. Daily trading volume was 804,728 shares and the ETF’s year-to-date return stood at about 166.4%.

Grayscale reported that ZCSH held 444,608 ZEC tokens and had 5.55 million shares outstanding as of Sept. 4. The firm said the trust held roughly $260 million in assets at the time of the conversion.

The ETF is the first U.S.-listed spot fund to provide exposure to a privacy-focused cryptocurrency through brokerage accounts, allowing investors to gain ZEC exposure without a crypto wallet or exchange account.

Zcash’s price rise began before the ETF conversion, reaching an eight-year high in August and extending into early September. The rally more than doubled ZEC’s value over the past month and pushed its market capitalization above $20 billion. ZEC remains below its 2016 all-time high price of $3,191.93.

In a statement, Grayscale’s head of index, Steve Vanourny, linked the ETF launch to rising demand for financial privacy: “As AI reshapes how financial activity can be monitored, we believe demand for genuine financial privacy will only grow.” Market participants have noted ZEC’s prior volatility and recent sharp price moves.