ZEC Up 498% Year-to-Date Amid ETF Filing by Grayscale

On DEC 1 2025, ZEC dropped by 21.28% within 24 hours to reach $342.47. Over the past week, it lost 36.16%, and over the last month, it fell by 21.37%. However, over the past year, ZEC has surged by an impressive 497.97%, reflecting strong underlying demand for the privacy-focused digital asset.

Grayscale has submitted a formal filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to convert its Zcash Trust into a spot exchange-traded fund (ETF), marking a significant step for ZEC and the broader privacy coin category. The proposed ETF would be the first in the U.S. to directly track Zcash, building on a similar strategy used for Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust, which became an ETF in 2024. If approved, the fund would represent a major development in the crypto space, signaling growing institutional interest in privacy-preserving digital assets.

The filing comes in the wake of a 1,000% price surge for ZEC in 2025. Analysts note that the rise in ZEC’s value has coincided with increased adoption of shielded transactions, a feature unique to Zcash that allows users to obscure the amount and parties involved in a transaction. Roughly 30% of all ZEC transactions now involve shielded pools, and between 20% and 25% of the total ZEC supply is currently held in encrypted addresses. This growing use of privacy features has contributed to Zcash’s transformation from a niche experimental coin into a more functional digital cash alternative.

The proposed ETF filing is seen as both a reflection and a catalyst of Zcash’s increased relevance in the crypto market. As investor interest in decentralized privacy solutions continues to grow, especially in a year marked by broader market volatility, a Zcash ETF could help bridge the gap between institutional and retail investors, offering a regulated and accessible way to gain exposure to the asset. Such a product would also serve as a benchmark for Zcash’s performance in mainstream financial markets.

Grayscale’s move highlights a broader trend in the crypto industry, where institutional infrastructure is evolving to support the growing demand for digital assets with unique value propositions. The firm’s strategy, which has previously succeeded with Bitcoin, now extends to Zcash, indicating confidence in the long-term potential of privacy coins as a distinct category within the crypto ecosystem. If the SEC approves the ETF, it could serve as a critical validation of Zcash’s market readiness and set a precedent for future ETFs focused on other privacy-centric cryptocurrencies.