Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss have submitted an S-1 registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to launch a spot Zcash exchange-traded fund. The proposed fund, which will trade on Nasdaq under the ticker WINK, aims to track the price of ZEC by holding the token directly.
The fund will charge a 0.25% sponsor fee. Gemini, the crypto exchange owned by the Winklevoss twins, is designated as the custodian and will maintain the ZEC holdings in cold storage. Additionally, Cypherpunk Technologies will act as the Zcash Ecosystem Partner to provide advisory services on protocol matters and voting.
Winklevoss Capital Fund has expressed a non-binding interest in purchasing up to $100 million worth of shares in the offering. The filing highlights risks associated with ZEC, including its historical volatility and specific vulnerabilities, such as the soundness bug identified in the Orchard shielded pool earlier this year.
This filing follows similar industry moves, including the conversion of the Grayscale Zcash Trust into a spot ETF in August and the launch of a Zcash exchange-traded product by 21Shares in Europe. The SEC must approve the application before the WINK fund can begin trading on the exchange.
