Grayscale Drops the Privacy Bomb: First-Ever Spot Zcash ETF Just Filed as ZEC Explodes Past $750

Grayscale Investments formally submitted an S-3 registration statement with the SEC on November 26, 2025, transforming its $196–199 million Grayscale Zcash Trust (OTC: ZCSH) into the first U.S.-listed spot Zcash ETF worldwide. Coming off a remarkable +1,000% year-to-date run that has elevated ZEC to around $750, the filing marks the most recent step in Grayscale's ongoing effort to convert its legacy single-asset trusts into spot ETFs. The proposed fund, which will trade on NYSE Arca under the ticker ZCSH, would provide regulated investors direct exposure to Zcash (ZEC), the privacy-focused cryptocurrency that utilizes zero-knowledge proofs (zk-SNARKs) for optional shielded transactions.

The action rides the wave of increasing legal tailwinds for privacy coins and reproduces Grayscale's successful Bitcoin and Ethereum trust conversions. Recent passage of the 2025 Clarity for Payment Stablecoins and Privacy Act has clarified that Zcash’s selective-disclosure features are fully compliant with U.S. and EU AML/KYC standards, thereby eliminating a significant historical impediment. Coinbase Custody will continue as custodian; the ETF will debut with cash creations and redemptions only—thus bypassing lingering SEC problems about in-kind procedures for altcoins—though a simplified 75-day review clock might get clearance as early as February 2026.

Markets immediately responded; ZEC shot up an extra 5–8% on the announcement and traded between $539 and $750 in the hours following the filing. Analysts are already referring to a possible Zcash ETF as the biggest catalyst yet for institutional embrace of privacy technology, particularly as Wall Street grows to “compliance-friendly” shielded assets. Although volatility and the ever-present threat of security-classification disputes remain, Grayscale's ambitious gamble has placed Zcash as the next boundary in the spot crypto ETF battle.