Winklevoss Asset Services filed an S-1 registration statement with the SEC on October 6, 2026, proposing a spot Zcash ETF that would hold ZEC directly and trade on Nasdaq under the WINK ticker.
The filing is not yet final. The prospectus warns that the information could change and that the ETF’s shares cannot be sold until the registration statement takes effect.
Under the proposed structure, WINK would charge a 0.25% annual sponsor fee and use Gemini Trust Company to safeguard the fund’s ZEC. The ETF would not use leverage or derivatives. Affiliates of Winklevoss Capital Fund have expressed interest in purchasing up to $100 million worth of shares, but the filing makes clear that the indication is nonbinding.
The announcement came as ZEC traded near $1,315, down almost 3% over 24 hours. Trading volume was about $679 million, while the token remained 11% higher over the previous 30 days. The proposed ETF has therefore emerged as a potential new catalyst for Zcash after its recent gains.
Proposed WINK ETF Would Bring ZEC to Brokerage Accounts
The fund would seek to reflect the price of the ZEC held by the trust, after accounting for expenses and other liabilities. If approved, investors could obtain Zcash exposure through a traditional brokerage account without having to directly purchase or custody the cryptocurrency.
The structure would still provide direct exposure to ZEC. According to the filing, the trust would hold the cryptocurrency itself and would not rely on derivatives or leverage to achieve its investment objective.
Investors would remain exposed to ZEC’s market volatility. WINK shares could also trade above or below the trust’s net asset value depending on market conditions.
Winklevoss Asset Services would act as the sponsor, while affiliate Gemini Trust Company would hold the ETF’s ZEC. The 0.25% annual sponsor fee is a key feature of the proposed product, although it does not guarantee that WINK will attract significant assets or gain an advantage over competing funds.
The filing says Winklevoss Capital Fund, through one or more affiliates, has indicated that it may purchase as much as $100 million in WINK shares. Those purchases could come from authorized participants or through the open market. However, the indication is not a firm commitment to provide seed capital, meaning the affiliates could ultimately purchase more, less, or none of the stated amount.
WINK would enter a U.S. market where Grayscale’s Zcash ETF, ZCSH, is already available. The primary report also noted that Grayscale had recently announced a 3-for-1 share split.
The same report said ZEC had climbed more than 735% over the preceding year and was trading around $1,354 on Tuesday, October 6, giving Zcash a market capitalization of roughly $23 billion. Those numbers reflect conditions at that time rather than a current market quote.
ETF Provides Exposure Without Direct Zcash Management
Zcash relies on zero-knowledge proofs to enable shielded transactions that can conceal transaction amounts and the identities of both senders and recipients. WINK would allow brokerage investors to gain exposure to ZEC without directly using those network features or managing the cryptocurrency themselves.
Under the proposed arrangement, Gemini Trust Company would hold the trust’s ZEC, while CSC Delaware Trust Company would serve as trustee.
The filing also names Cypherpunk Technologies as a Zcash Ecosystem Partner. Its potential role could include coinholder polling as well as providing input on protocol and technical developments.
For institutional crypto products, custody is a core component of the investment structure rather than a secondary consideration. The preliminary WINK filing still leaves several operational aspects open to potential changes as the SEC registration process continues.
