Winklevoss firm files for a spot Zcash ETF

The Winklevoss twins want to bring another crypto fund to the stock market. Winklevoss Asset Services has filed a preliminary S-1 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a fund that would hold Zcash directly, The Block and Decrypt reported this week.

The details are in the filing. The fund would list on Nasdaq under the ticker WINK and charge a sponsor fee of 0.25% a year. Gemini Trust Company, part of the twins' exchange business, would hold the coins. Winklevoss Capital Fund has indicated a nonbinding interest in buying up to $100 million of shares, and Cypherpunk Technologies, a Zcash treasury company backed by the twins, would act as an adviser on the protocol.

Winklevoss is the third issuer to pursue a US spot Zcash fund, after Grayscale and Bitwise, The Block reported. Grayscale's fund already trades and has taken in about $233 million since it launched in August.

Zcash is a privacy-focused cryptocurrency. It traded at about $1,360 on Tuesday, according to Decrypt.

A preliminary filing is the start of a process, not an approval. The twins know that better than most. Their application for a spot bitcoin ETF, the first in the United States, was rejected by the SEC in 2017.