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First US Privacy-Coin ETF Trades

The Zcash ETF Goes Live on NYSE Arca as the First US Spot Privacy-Coin Fund

Verified · 26 Aug 2026PrivacyAug 26, 2026

The Zcash ETF (ZCSH), converted from Grayscale's 2021-vintage OTC trust, began trading on NYSE Arca — the first US spot ETF holding a privacy coin — opening around $65.85, per coverage. The fund holds roughly 392,000 ZEC in Coinbase custody at a 2.5% sponsor fee, with continuous creation/redemption replacing the OTC structure whose premiums once hit 240%. Grayscale founder Barry Silbert reportedly called ZEC the best speculative buy with an $8,000 target, and the fund reportedly directs its first-year fee to ZEC awareness. ZEC traded near an eight-year high around $880.

Silbert's pitch: buy the coin, skip the shield

Grayscale's founder Barry Silbert says if you're going to gamble, "the best choice is to buy ZEC" — and the fund is reportedly putting its entire first-year management fee toward promoting the coin, with Silbert talking about $8,000 a coin.

What is being sold is Zcash as a bet, priced against Bitcoin, bought through a broker. Not privacy. Price.

The thing Zcash was built to do — hide who paid whom — never comes up. It's just an asset that goes up.

Futures turnover in ZEC is running near $10 billion against roughly $1 billion of spot buying, borrowed-money positions have nearly doubled, and social chatter sits far below where it was at June's lows. The buyers are traders levering into a ticker, not a crowd discovering a technology.

The one feature that made Zcash matter gets sold off as an afterthought, while everyone cheers the number.

8 sources