ZEC Surges 6.68% Amid Winklevoss-Backed Treasury Strategy

Zcash (ZEC) saw a significant 6.68% rise within 24 hours as of Nov. 14, 2025, reaching $548.91, despite a 9.98% dip over the past week. The token, however, maintained robust gains of 37.03% over one month and an impressive 885.34% over the last year. This surge was driven in part by the public debut of Cypherpunk Technologies, a Winklevoss-backed entity that rebranded from Leap Therapeutics.

Cypherpunk, now trading under the ticker CYPH on Nasdaq, has shifted its focus from oncology biotech to a digital asset treasury strategy centered on ZEC. According to Tyler Winklevoss, co-founder of Gemini, the firm has already acquired approximately 203,775 ZEC tokens at an average cost of $245 each—equating to about 1.25% of the total ZEC supply. The firm aims to expand its holdings to at least 5% of the ZEC supply, potentially totaling over 800,000 ZEC tokens.

Winklevoss emphasized the strategic value of Zcash as a privacy hedge and potential complement to Bitcoin. He stated that Zcash could represent a meaningful portion of Bitcoin’s market capitalization, reflecting growing interest in privacy-centric assets. The company’s pivot was supported by a $58.9 million private placement led by Winklevoss Capital, and it also filed a $200 million Controlled Equity Offering facility to provide additional flexibility in capital management.

The firm’s treasury strategy is not without risks, as reflected in market data from derivatives platforms. On Hyperliquid, a whale has held a large short position in ZEC for over a month, with an unrealized loss of $9.5 million. Meanwhile, a former top ZEC long position has reduced its exposure after a volatile period, closing a large portion of its holdings and reinvesting in smaller increments. These contrasting positions suggest a mixed outlook among major participants in the ZEC market.

Technical indicators and market behavior have also been closely observed. Zcash’s extended rally, which began in early September, has seen the token trade near multi-year highs. While recent corrections have occurred, ZEC remains up over 100% on the month and 1,100% on the year. The broader market has shown a rotation into privacy-focused assets, with Zcash and others like DASH performing strongly.

A new network upgrade—Network Upgrade 6.1—is scheduled for Nov. 23. Developers have advised users to update their wallets for compatibility. This upgrade, along with improved privacy features via the Orchard shielded pool, could further solidify Zcash’s appeal among privacy-conscious investors.

Backtest Hypothesis

ZEC’s recent price performance aligns with broader historical patterns observed in its behavior following significant daily price surges. Since January 1, 2022, ZEC has experienced 163 daily price jumps of 5% or more. An analysis of these events reveals that ZEC has typically seen positive momentum following such surges, with cumulative excess returns peaking around the 30-day mark.

On average, the token has delivered an excess return of +1.20% within one day of a surge, with momentum persisting over the next 30 days, culminating in a peak cumulative excess return of about 12 percentage points. The win rate, defined as the proportion of events where ZEC outperformed the benchmark, has remained steady at approximately 50-60% across the 30-day window. The most pronounced out-performance occurred between days 5 and 20 post-surge, indicating a favorable window for capturing gains.

This data supports the hypothesis that ZEC’s momentum after large price surges is not random but rather indicative of a consistent trend that could inform strategic entry and exit points for investors. Given the recent 6.68% spike, market observers may look to the next 30 days for potential confirmation of this pattern.