The First-Ever Spot ETF for an Altcoin Launched Today

Cryptocurrency asset management company Grayscale has launched a new exchange-traded product (ETF) in the US, offering investment in the privacy-focused altcoin Zcash ($ZEC). The company’s Zcash ETF, ZCSH, began trading on the NYSE Arca today.

Created by converting the Grayscale Zcash Trust into an ETF, ZCSH is the first exchange-traded product in the US to focus on $ZEC. According to shared data, as of August 24, the fund had approximately $314 million in assets under management, with approximately 387,200 $ZEC in its portfolio.

The annual management fee for ZCSH has been set at 2.5%. Grayscale also announced that revenue from these management fees, earned for up to 12 months following the effective date of the registration notification, will be used to support the Zcash ecosystem and for product marketing activities.

In its announcement of the new product, Grayscale described Zcash as one of the leading digital currencies that provides financial privacy. The company stated that Zcash allows users to choose whether or not to keep their transaction details private, combining this with a limited supply and mining-based monetary policy similar to Bitcoin.

Grayscale noted that while Bitcoin transactions are traceable on a public blockchain, Zcash, with its maximum supply of 21 million units and proof-of-work consensus mechanism, allows users to keep their balances and transactions private.

The company also argued that the use of privacy features on Zcash is steadily increasing. According to Grayscale, shielded transactions account for more than 50% of user activity at times, while improvements in wallet infrastructure and scalability are facilitating the use of private digital payments.

*This is not investment advice.