Key facts
- 21Shares launched Europe's first Zcash exchange-traded product on Euronext Paris and Amsterdam on Sept. 22.
- The Zcash ETP trades under the ticker ZCASH and has a 2.5% annual management fee.
- The fund is physically backed, holding the underlying Zcash tokens with BitGo as custodian.
- Zcash (ZEC) has gained over 2,700% this year.
- ZEC reached an intraday high near $1,680 on Wednesday before pulling back to $1,522.
- Grayscale's ZCSH ETF has attracted over $233 million and holds close to $890 million in assets.
21Shares has launched Europe's first exchange-traded product for Zcash, a privacy-focused cryptocurrency, on Euronext Paris and Amsterdam on September 22. The physically backed fund, trading under the ticker ZCASH, aims to provide traditional investors with easier access to the digital asset, sidestepping the complexities of direct crypto ownership.
The ZCASH ETP charges a 2.5% annual management fee, which is notably higher than fees for Bitcoin and Ether ETPs on the same exchanges. This premium reflects the custody costs for Zcash, an asset less commonly handled by institutional custodians compared to Bitcoin and Ether. 21Shares is betting that demand for privacy coin exposure will justify the higher fee.
This European debut follows the launch of Grayscale's Zcash ETF (ZCSH) on NYSE Arca in August. Zcash, which forks Bitcoin's code and includes optional shielded transactions to hide sender, receiver, and amounts, has seen significant investor interest this year, with its native token ZEC gaining over 2,700%. On Wednesday, ZEC spiked to an intraday high near $1,680 before retreating to approximately $1,522, a pullback of about 6.6%.
The ZCASH ETP launched with 5,000 securities outstanding and a net asset value of $20.04 per unit, representing about $100,000 in assets under management on its first day. Coinholders recently voted to retain Zcash's Bitcoin-style halving model, a mechanism designed to control inflation.