Zcash ETF From the Winklevoss Twins: What a Fund Can't Give You
The Winklevoss twins filed for a Zcash ETF under the ticker WINK. What the fund would offer, the privacy it leaves out, and the risks Zcash holders face.
Key takeaways
- The Winklevoss twins' October 6 filing for the Winklevoss Zcash ETF (ticker WINK) is a request to the SEC, not an approval. When the video checked on October 9, there was no decision date.
- A Zcash ETF gives you price exposure only. Gemini would hold the keys, and you could not shield, spend or send the coins.
- Zcash privacy only applies to coins held in a wallet that supports shielded Zcash, and fewer than a third of all Zcash sits in the shielded pools.
- Addresses starting with 't' are transparent, so anyone can see their full payment history on a block explorer like Blockchair.
- An EU anti-money laundering rule bars crypto firms in Europe from handling privacy coins from July 2027, which matters if you hold Zcash on a European exchange.
Winklevoss Asset Services, the Winklevoss twins’ company, filed with the SEC on October 6 to list the Winklevoss Zcash ETF on Nasdaq under the ticker WINK. Grayscale’s Zcash fund has traded since August, and Bitwise has also filed for one. The video’s main point is that a fund would give investors Zcash’s price but none of the coin’s privacy.
That gap matters if you hold Zcash (ZEC) or are thinking about it. A fund is convenient. But it puts your holding in one of the least private places possible: a brokerage account with your name on it, while the coins sit with a custodian. The video, presented by Bullrunners host Rory, covers three things: what the filing says, how Zcash privacy works, and the risks on both sides.
What is the Winklevoss Zcash ETF?
The Winklevoss Zcash ETF is a proposed exchange-traded fund. An ETF is a fund you buy like a share through an ordinary brokerage or pension account, while the fund holds the coins for you. The filing sets out these details:
- Listing: Nasdaq, under the ticker WINK.
- Fee: 0.25% a year, compared with 2.5% for Grayscale’s Zcash fund. On $10,000, that is $25 a year instead of $250.
- Custodian: Gemini, the twins’ own crypto company.
- Insider interest: Winklevoss Capital Fund, the twins’ investment firm, has shown nonbinding interest in buying up to $100 million of the shares.
- Zcash partner: Cypherpunk Technologies, named as the fund’s “Zcash Ecosystem Partner” to help with protocol development and with polling coin holders.
According to the video, Laura Shin of Unchained flagged the $100 million detail on October 6, and Tyler Winklevoss shared her post. The video describes Cypherpunk as a listed company that holds Zcash and that Winklevoss Capital has invested in. It notes the twins sit on nearly every side of the product: the fund, the custody and the partner.
The video says that the day after the filing, Cameron Winklevoss summed up the pitch at Token 2049 in Singapore: “Bitcoin is decentralized, public. Zcash is decentralized, private.”
A filing is not an approval. The SEC has to let the fund through first. When the video checked on October 9, there was no date for a decision. For background, see our earlier coverage of the Zcash rally and the Winklevoss ETF story.
Why does the video say your bank reports on you?
US banks are legally required to report certain activity to the government. Per the video, depositing more than $10,000 in cash at an American bank triggers a report automatically. Banks can also file a suspicious activity report (SAR) when an account looks unusual.
The video plays a clip from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. It describes SARs as strictly confidential: banks aren’t allowed to publicly confirm they exist. A SAR is not an accusation. It is an alert to regulators and law enforcement.
According to the video, FinCEN, the US financial crimes agency, receives millions of SARs a year. The UK is similar. Its National Crime Agency says its financial intelligence unit receives about 3,000 SARs every working day, or nearly 900,000 a year.
The video accepts that most of this reporting targets real criminals. Its point is that everyday money lives in a system built to be watched, while Zcash was built so it can’t be. For more on how reporting limits work, see why your exchange’s reporting limit isn’t $10,000.
How does Zcash privacy actually work?
Zcash privacy comes from its shielded pools, parts of the network where payment details are encrypted. The video compares this to sending money in a sealed envelope instead of on a postcard.
The video plays a clip it dates to Token 2049 in 2025, from a cryptographer who works on Zcash. He explained the difference from Bitcoin. On Bitcoin, anyone can see the key material, the transaction graph and the amounts. A shielded Zcash transaction looks like an opaque random string of bytes. In short, nobody can see who paid or how much.
There is a catch. Zcash also has transparent addresses, which start with a ‘t’. These work like Bitcoin: every payment in and out is public. You only get shielded privacy when you hold the coins yourself in a wallet that supports shielded Zcash.
What would you get and miss with a Zcash ETF?
A Zcash ETF would give you convenience and price exposure, but not control or privacy. The video lists the benefits:
- No wallet to manage.
- No password to lose.
- Everything in the same account as your other investments.
For many people, that is exactly what they want.
What you give up:
- Gemini holds the keys, not you.
- You can’t shield the coins, so Zcash privacy never reaches you.
- You can’t spend or send the coins.
- Your shares sit in a brokerage account tied to your name and address.
| Where your Zcash sits | Who holds the keys | Can you shield it? | Main risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| ETF (such as WINK) | The fund’s custodian | No | You trust the fund and custodian |
| Exchange | The exchange | No | Withdrawal pauses, company failure |
| Your own shielded wallet | You | Yes | Lost keys can’t be recovered |
The video stresses that coins on an exchange are not self-custody either. Self-custody means you hold the keys, so nobody can freeze your coins or pause your withdrawals. It also means there is no helpline if you lose those keys. The host’s warning is that self-custody works well when set up carefully and badly when rushed. Bullrunners covers the same three-way split for XRP in who actually owns your XRP.
Why does the custodian matter?
When someone else holds your coins, you trust their business as well as the coin. The video uses Gemini’s own history as an example. In November 2022, the lender Genesis stopped withdrawals, and Gemini’s Earn customers had their money stuck. In early 2024, New York’s financial regulator secured a deal to return more than $1 billion to them.
The video also plays a Bloomberg segment from February. It said Gemini was still not profitable, and that a Truist analyst said departures and negative cash flow raised investor concerns about solvency.
The host is careful here. A fund’s coins are meant to be kept separate from the company’s own money, so this does not mean the ETF’s holdings would be at risk. The lesson applies to every fund, exchange and app.
The video also notes a policy shift. On October 5, FinCEN, part of the US Treasury, withdrew a proposed rule on crypto mixing services. These are services that pool coins together so they are harder to trace. FinCEN said the rule could chill legitimate activity. It also dropped a 2020 plan that would have required banks and money services businesses, including exchanges, to report certain payments to self-hosted wallets. More on that in what still applies after FinCEN withdrew the self-hosted wallet proposal.
What are the risks for Zcash holders?
The video lists five risks:
- Institutional money can leave quickly. Grayscale’s Zcash fund peaked at roughly $915 million to $979 million in assets in September, depending on the count. Crypto Briefing reported that about $93.5 million flowed out in the week to October 2, the fund’s first week of outflows. Assets were near $751 million by early October. The video also cites Cointelegraph as reporting another $8.5 million leaving on October 7.
- Most Zcash isn’t private. Only around 5 million coins sit in the shielded pools, less than a third of all Zcash.
- European rules. An EU anti-money laundering regulation bars crypto firms in Europe from handling privacy coins from July 2027. Owning them stays legal.
- Technical problems. On May 29, a flaw was found in Zcash’s Orchard shielded pool, and reported price drops ranged from about 30% to 45%. A patch went in on June 1 and was made permanent on June 3. The July 28 Ironwood upgrade then closed the affected pool.
- Filings can stall. The SEC could take a long time or ask for changes, or the fund might never launch.
On price, the video says ZEC fell more than 20% in the week before the filing. It was about $1,300 when the twins filed.
How to check if your crypto address is public
The video suggests a quick test anyone can run:
- Open the app or wallet where your crypto sits.
- Copy your deposit address.
- Paste it into a free block explorer such as Blockchair.
- If it is a Bitcoin address, or a Zcash address starting with ‘t’, you will see every payment that has gone in and out. So can anyone else.
The host calls this your bank statement pinned to a lamp post. If privacy matters to you, the test shows whether you actually have it.
What to watch next
There are four things worth watching:
- Any SEC decision or timeline on the WINK filing, and on Bitwise’s filing.
- Whether the 0.25% fee pushes other Zcash fund fees down.
- Flows in and out of Grayscale’s Zcash fund, as a sign of whether institutional interest holds.
- The July 2027 privacy coin deadline, if you use a European exchange.
Whatever route you choose, be clear about who holds the keys. As the video puts it, a fund gives you the price, not the privacy.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a Winklevoss Zcash ETF?
Not yet. On October 6, the twins' company, Winklevoss Asset Services, filed with the SEC to list the Winklevoss Zcash ETF on Nasdaq under the ticker WINK. According to the video, there was no decision date as of October 9, so nobody could buy it.
How much would the Winklevoss Zcash ETF cost?
The filing sets a fee of 0.25% a year, compared with 2.5% for Grayscale's Zcash fund. On $10,000 invested, that is about $25 a year instead of $250.
Does a Zcash ETF give you privacy?
No. The fund's custodian, Gemini, would hold the coins, and your shares would sit in a brokerage account under your name and address. Shielded privacy only applies when you hold Zcash yourself in a wallet that supports it.
Are all Zcash transactions private?
No. Transparent Zcash addresses, which start with 't', show every payment publicly, much like Bitcoin. Only around 5 million coins sit in the shielded pools, less than a third of the supply.
Will Europe ban privacy coins?
Not for individuals. An EU anti-money laundering regulation stops crypto firms in Europe from handling privacy coins from July 2027, which affects Zcash held on European exchanges. Owning privacy coins stays legal.
Education and commentary only, not financial advice. Crypto is volatile and you can lose money. Do your own research and speak to a qualified advisor before making investment decisions. Figures and quotes are as reported in the video on October 17, 2026 and may have changed since.
