Winklevoss Twins Double Down on Zcash — Hire ZEC Founder Zooko Wilcox as Advisor

ccn.comPublished on 2025-12-10Last updated on 2025-12-10

Abstract

The Winklevoss twins, Tyler and Cameron, have deepened their involvement with the privacy-focused cryptocurrency Zcash (ZEC) by hiring its founder, Zooko Wilcox, as an advisor to their recently launched treasury company, Cypherpunk. Backed by a $50 million investment from Winklevoss Capital, Cypherpunk was established in November and has already acquired 203,775 ZEC, representing about 1.25% of the total supply. The company aims to accumulate at least 5% of all ZEC. Wilcox, who founded Zcash in 2016, brings deep technical and philosophical insight to the project. This move signals Cypherpunk's intent to be an active participant in the Zcash ecosystem, building a team of experts to advance privacy technology. The Winklevoss twins have a long history with Zcash, having invested in its seed round in 2018 and listed it as a portfolio asset as early as 2019.

Key Takeaways
  • Cypherpunk is a ZEC treasury company launched by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss in November,
  • The company has hired Zcash founder Zooko Wilcox as an advisor.
  • The Winklevoss twins have been involved with Zcash for years.

After launching a Zcash treasury company in November, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss have doubled down on the privacy-focused cryptocurrency.

Funded with $50 million from the Winklevoss’ investment company, Cypherpunk announced on Tuesday, Dec. 9, that it has hired ZEC founder Zooko Wilcox as an advisor.

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Winklevoss Twins Establish $58 Million Zcash Treasury

Following the established digital asset treasury (DAT) playbook, in November, Winklevoss Capital led a $58.88 million private placement in Leap Therapeutics, which subsequently rebranded as Cypherpunk.

Almost immediately, the Nasdaq-listed company acquired 203,775 ZEC, representing around 1.25% of the cryptocurrency’s entire supply.

“We plan to continue accumulating ZEC rapidly so that Cypherpunk owns at least 5% of the total ZEC supply,” Tyler Winklevoss stated at the time.

Zcash Founder Joins Cypherpunk

As founder of the Electric Coin Company, Wilcox helped launch Zcash in 2016. Although he stepped down as CEO in 2023, he remains a highly influential figure within the ZEC community.

“As the founder of Zcash, Zooko intimately understands both the technical foundations and the philosophy behind privacy-preserving technology,” Cypherpunk Chief Investment Officer Will McEvoy said in a statement .

Cypherpunk’s latest hire suggests the company doesn’t plan to watch from the sidelines, but will be an active participant in the Zcash ecosystem.

“We’re assembling a world-class bench of cypherpunks, cryptographers, technologists, and thinkers committed to advancing Zcash and the global privacy ecosystem,” McEvoy expanded.

Supporting ZEC Growth

The recent DAT play isn’t the first time the Winklevoss twins have thrown their support behind Zcash. On the contrary, they have been quietly financing the project for years.

According to Tracxn , Winklevoss Capital participated in Electric Coin Company’s seed funding round in 2018.

Meanwhile, the company first listed Zcash on its portfolio page as early as March 2019, making it one of the very first institutional investors to endorse what was still considered an experimental privacy coin at the time.

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