Zcash Defies Bitcoin’s Slide as Cypherpunk Tech Adds $18M More ZEC, Now Controls 1.43% of Supply

When large caps wobble, bid flows often sniff out assets with a fresh catalyst. Zcash is having that moment. While Bitcoin and Ethereum trade heavy, ZEC has ripped another 31% week over week, extending a run that’s up 125% in 30 days and roughly 15x since early September. The proximate driver isn’t mysterious: a public company is building a concentrated treasury and broadcasting it.

Cypherpunk Technologies (Nasdaq: CYPH) disclosed an additional 29,869.29 ZEC purchase for $18 million at an average of $602.63. That stacks on top of its initial 203,775.27 ZEC for $50 million, bringing the stash to 233,644.56 ZEC at a blended $291.04. By the company’s math, that’s 1.43% of ZEC’s total supply and now worth north of $146 million at recent prices around $626. The equity is responding in kind: CYPH is up nearly 6% today to $3.14 and 469% over the last month after its Zcash pivot, aided by new board firepower—veteran investor Khing Oei—and Will McEvoy of Winklevoss Capital stepping in as director and CIO.

What matters here is reflexivity. A public buyer announces size in an asset with a constrained float, price lifts, mark-to-market improves the balance sheet, and the equity rerates—potentially enabling more capital formation and more buying. That flywheel can work both ways, but in thin privacy markets it can move quickly. Zcash has popped above $700 multiple times this month, yet it still sits far below the $3,191 print from its 2016 debut, a reminder that upside spikes come with violent mean reversion risk.

Why ZEC, and why now? The narrative tailwind is straightforward: Bitcoin’s transparency is by design, and the rise of ETFs only adds intermediaries, not obfuscation. Analysts have noted that privacy advocates position Zcash as “encrypted Bitcoin”—a familiar monetary model with transactional confidentiality. Zcash inherited Bitcoin’s codebase, then layered zero-knowledge proofs so transactions can be shielded while allowing selective disclosure. That design choice resonates when on-chain surveillance concerns flare, and it gives institutions a way to reconcile auditability with user privacy if policies are well-implemented.

Decoupling shows up in the tape. Bitcoin set a recent high above $126,000 in early October, then slid to a seven-month low near $88,637 on Wednesday, down more than 12% over the week. ZEC, by contrast, has jumped 31% in the same window. That divergence won’t persist forever, but it tells you where incremental risk appetite is leaning when the market wants idiosyncratic stories.

There is corporate strategy at play too. With Winklevoss Capital backing the shift and governance changes in motion, Cypherpunk is leaning into a single-asset thesis. At a $291 blended entry versus a ~$626 spot, management can frame the position as accretive, but the real test will be liquidity discipline. Owning 1.43% of supply is meaningful; exiting or hedging size in a drawdown is rarely trivial. Compliance posture matters as well—privacy coins invite scrutiny—though Zcash’s selective disclosure can address some counterparties’ concerns if executed carefully.

What to watch next: - Whether additional treasuries echo this playbook, creating a demand cohort and deepening order books. - Stability of ZEC above the $600–$700 band after a 15x since September; reflexive flows cut both ways. - Further boardroom and capital moves from CYPH—fast-rising equities often try to lock in financing while the window is open. - Upticks in shielded transaction usage and infrastructure support, which would validate the “encrypted Bitcoin” pitch beyond price.

Zcash’s current run is less about a broad privacy renaissance and more about a well-telegraphed balance sheet bet colliding with a tight market. That can be powerful—until it isn’t. For now, the tape is rewarding the buyers who moved first.