Grayscale executes 3-for-1 split of Zcash ETF after assets hit $500M

Grayscale announced a 3-for-1 share split of its Zcash ETF (ZCSH), tripling each holder’s share count without altering their stake’s value. The move signals confidence in the first U.S. privacy-coin fund after assets surged past $500 million in less than a month following its August conversion from a trust structure.

• Grayscale converted its Zcash Trust to the ZCSH ETF on NYSE Arca on August 25, becoming the first U.S. fund tracking a privacy coin.
• Assets reached $500 million by early September, up from $260 million at launch, driven by $70 million in external inflows and a $100 million DCG allocation.
• The 3-for-1 split takes effect September 30, with share distributions occurring after market close on September 29 for holders as of September 28.

• $500M Assets under management by early September versus initial launch total.
• 2.5% Annual fund fee, roughly ten times higher than spot Bitcoin ETF rates.
• 550,000 ZEC coins held, representing close to 3% of total supply.

Grayscale announced on September 18 that it plans a 3-for-1 forward split of its Zcash ETF, with each shareholder receiving two additional shares for every one held at the close of business on September 28. Shares will distribute after market close on September 29, and post-split trading begins September 30. The move comes as Cryptopolitan first reported that Grayscale converted its long-running Zcash Trust into the ZCSH ETF, listed on NYSE Arca on August 25, marking the debut of the first U.S. fund tracking a privacy coin.

Grayscale’s Zcash fund grew to $500 million in five weeks after converting from trust

Assets under management surged past $500 million by early September, up from approximately $260 million at launch on August 25.

In a September 17 Medium analysis, Austin Liu broke down the composition: roughly $70 million came from fresh external inflows, while Digital Currency Group, Grayscale’s parent company, contributed a $100 million allocation through its DCG International Investments unit, indicating internal commitment to the fund’s success.

The fund charged a 2.5% annual fee, roughly ten times the management cost of spot Bitcoin ETFs, a premium that reflects the specialized nature of a privacy-coin vehicle.

By early September, the fund held more than 550,000 ZEC tokens, equal to nearly 3% of Zcash’s total supply. Coinbase Custody provides the underlying asset custody.

Holdings remain on transparent blockchain despite Zcash’s privacy option

Zcash enables users to choose between transparent addresses that operate similarly to Bitcoin and shielded addresses that obscure the sender, receiver, and transaction amount.

Liu noted that the ZCSH fund stores all its coins exclusively in transparent Coinbase wallets, making every token verifiable on the public blockchain, a choice that surrenders the privacy feature central to Zcash’s value proposition.

The decision reflects regulatory and operational constraints inherent to a U.S.-listed ETF structure rather than a limitation of the underlying asset.

Zcash price surge from $50 to $1,500 in a year shows investor appetite

Zcash traded near $50 one year ago and crossed $1,000 on September 4, then climbed to approximately $1,500 following a roughly 20% gain on Thursday. The momentum demonstrates institutional and retail appetite for privacy-focused digital assets, though the asset remains far smaller by market capitalization than Bitcoin or Ethereum and faces ongoing regulatory scrutiny in multiple jurisdictions.

The CCS read. We see the share split as a liquidity play ahead of potential retail inflows. Grayscale’s confidence in holding 3% of circulating supply suggests conviction that Zcash will remain a core privacy allocation within institutional portfolios, despite the regulatory headwinds privacy coins face globally. The fund’s rapid asset growth and corporate backing make it a proxy for institutional acceptance of privacy as a blockchain feature.

Institutional investors should monitor whether the split accelerates inflows or whether the $500 million base represents a ceiling under current regulatory uncertainty. The fund’s ability to attract assets beyond DCG’s internal capital will signal whether privacy coins can sustain institutional ETF vehicles in the U.S. market.