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.

New Trending Crypto Wallet Offers
Sponsored
Disclosure
We sometimes use affiliate links in our content, when clicking on those we might receive a commission at no extra cost to you. By using this website you agree to our terms and conditions and privacy policy.

Tangem

promotions
Trusted & Secure
Coins
111
Claim Offer

BitBox

promotions
Trusted, Secure & Crypto Friendly
Coins
–
Claim Offer

Blockstream

promotions
Trusted, Secure & Crypto Friendly
Coins
–
Claim Offer

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.

Top Picks for Zcash
  • Best Exchanges for Zcash Looking to Trade Zcash? Check Out These Exchanges
  • Top Crypto Wallets Keep Your Zcash in These Top Wallets
  • Gamble Crypto Safely Here See Our Picks for the Best Crypto Gambling Sites

Related Reads

The FBI Launched a Coin, and It's More Legitimate Than Half of the Crypto Projects Out There

In an undercover operation dubbed "Operation Token Mirrors," the FBI created a fake cryptocurrency project called NexFundAI on Ethereum to expose widespread market manipulation. Posing as a project team, FBI agents approached several market-making firms—including Gotbit, ZM Quant, CLS Global, and MyTrade—to artificially inflate trading volume. All firms agreed without questioning the project's legitimacy, with one founder admitting on tape that they profited by ensuring retail investors lost money. The investigation, spanning two years and three continents, led to charges against 28 individuals and the seizure of over $25 million in crypto assets. Key cases involved firms like Saitama, which allegedly manipulated its token to a $7.5 billion market cap using coordinated buying and market makers, and Lillian Finance, which promoted a fraudulent charity narrative. Evidence included internal spreadsheets tracking fake versus real trading volume and Telegram chats discussing manipulation tactics. The FBI's fake project website now warns visitors about its investigative purpose and offers a victim compensation portal. Ironically, within 24 hours of the DOJ's announcement, a copycat token based on NexFundAI's contract was launched, netting its creator over $127,000—highlighting how quickly such schemes are replicated in the crypto space.

marsbit19m ago

The FBI Launched a Coin, and It's More Legitimate Than Half of the Crypto Projects Out There

marsbit19m ago

Musk Posted a Recruitment Ad for SpaceX, and After Reading the Comments Section, I Understood

On May 20th, SpaceX filed for a landmark IPO with a $1.75 trillion valuation. Shortly after, Elon Musk posted a recruitment call on X, seeking "world-class engineers and physicists" for SpaceX. The application process was starkly simple: email with three bullet points proving "exceptional ability," with real, complex projects as a plus. Musk promised to review qualifying emails himself. The post garnered millions of views and thousands of replies, revealing a spectrum of responses. Most comments, including a highly-upvoted humorous one listing absurd "skills," merely listed credentials or experiences in a conventional, non-differentiating way. This highlighted a key insight: a traditional resume listing degrees and skills often fails to demonstrate true exceptionalism. Effective self-presentation requires "performance efficiency." A standout reply came from an OpenAI engineering lead, who simply stated "codex." This demonstrated that for those who have built significant, recognized products, the product itself becomes the ultimate resume. The article argues that in the AI era, any tangible, shareable output—a tool, research, or online project—serves as a living, self-evident credential more powerful than a list of attributes. However, a twist emerged when applicants found the provided email address non-functional, leading to speculation that the post might also serve as an IPO publicity stunt, projecting an image of aggressive talent acquisition to investors. Ultimately, the episode served as a microcosm: some participate through performance, others through proof of work, while some question the reality of the stage itself. It underscores the enduring challenge of defining and demonstrating value in an age of abundant, yet often superficial, content.

marsbit50m ago

Musk Posted a Recruitment Ad for SpaceX, and After Reading the Comments Section, I Understood

marsbit50m ago

Cutting Off OpenAI, Anthropic Acquires the Tool Provider Used by a Quarter of Global Developers

Anthropic has acquired Stainless, a developer tool company that automatically generated official SDKs (Software Development Kits) for AI giants including OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, and Cloudflare. The deal, reportedly valued at around $300 million, marks a strategic shift for Anthropic as it builds its "AI agent" infrastructure. Stainless acted as a "translator," converting complex API specifications into ready-to-use code libraries for developers. Its tools indirectly reached about a quarter of professional software developers globally. Following the acquisition, Stainless will shut down its public products and its team will join Anthropic to focus on internal platform development, notably for the Claude Platform. Existing SDKs remain with their respective client companies but will no longer receive updates from Stainless. This move is part of Anthropic's broader 18-month strategy to assemble a complete "agent stack." The stack consists of the Claude model at its core, the newly acquired Stainless for standardized API interfaces, and the Model Context Protocol (MCP), an open standard for connecting agents to external tools and data. This contrasts with OpenAI's focus on model generations and consumer-scale compute. Anthropic believes an agent's ultimate utility depends on its ability to connect to external systems. By internalizing the SDK layer and promoting MCP as a connection standard, Anthropic aims to lock in long-term ecosystem advantages and create path dependency, moving beyond the transient lead provided by any single model generation.

marsbit52m ago

Cutting Off OpenAI, Anthropic Acquires the Tool Provider Used by a Quarter of Global Developers

marsbit52m ago

BingX Shows Robust 66% Growth YoY in CoinGecko Perpetuals Report

BingX, in partnership with CoinGecko's 2026 State of Crypto Perpetuals Report, demonstrates significant growth in the perpetuals market. The report highlights accelerating trends in tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), AI-linked markets, and multi-asset products, areas where BingX is a leader. Key findings from the report include BingX ranking #2 globally for new perpetual listings with 565 since 2025, and showing the fastest derivatives market share growth entering 2026 at 58%, with year-over-year growth exceeding 66%. This growth is attributed to strong performance in RWA assets. BingX also led in new AI-related perpetual listings with 111 markets and expanded its TradFi offerings with tokenized equities. Further aligning with its strategy, BingX introduced innovative products like pre-IPO perpetuals for SpaceX and OpenAI, and EventX, a contract for trading on global event outcomes. These developments underscore BingX's vision of a unified multi-market platform bridging crypto and traditional finance.

TheNewsCrypto1h ago

BingX Shows Robust 66% Growth YoY in CoinGecko Perpetuals Report

TheNewsCrypto1h ago

Bankless Founder Sells Off ETH, Collective Collapse of Ethereum Faith

Ethereum faces a "crisis of faith" as David Hoffman, co-founder of the prominent pro-Ethereum media outlet Bankless, announces he has sold all his ETH. This move, coupled with reports of major layoffs at Bankless, signals a potential retreat of Ethereum's staunchest supporters. Hoffman and co-founder Ryan Sean Adams confirm Bankless is entering a "second era," with Adams stepping back and Hoffman exploring new frontiers. Hoffman sharply criticizes the Ethereum Foundation, stating that ETH's poor price performance cannot be separated from its leadership. He has a history of public dissatisfaction, citing the Foundation's failure to drive market growth and its "endless manifestos." His frustration coincides with ETH/BTC hitting multi-month lows and a significant exodus of senior researchers and executives from the Ethereum Foundation, partly attributed to controversial "loyalty oaths." The article contrasts Ethereum's current predicament—with its Layer-2 narrative discredited and ecosystem stagnant—against what should have been a highlight year in 2026 amid tokenization trends. While a previous surge to near $5,000 was driven by corporate buybacks (DAT热潮), ETH has since fallen over 50%. The core question remains: with fading faith and intense competition, what is Ethereum's next solution? Hoffman's divestment symbolizes a growing disconnect between the community and the ecosystem's direction.

Odaily星球日报1h ago

Bankless Founder Sells Off ETH, Collective Collapse of Ethereum Faith

Odaily星球日报1h ago

Trading

Spot
Futures

Hot Articles

How to Buy ZEC

Welcome to HTX.com! We've made purchasing Zcash (ZEC) simple and convenient. Follow our step-by-step guide to embark on your crypto journey.Step 1: Create Your HTX AccountUse your email or phone number to sign up for a free account on HTX. Experience a hassle-free registration journey and unlock all features.Get My AccountStep 2: Go to Buy Crypto and Choose Your Payment MethodCredit/Debit Card: Use your Visa or Mastercard to buy Zcash (ZEC) instantly.Balance: Use funds from your HTX account balance to trade seamlessly.Third Parties: We've added popular payment methods such as Google Pay and Apple Pay to enhance convenience.P2P: Trade directly with other users on HTX.Over-the-Counter (OTC): We offer tailor-made services and competitive exchange rates for traders.Step 3: Store Your Zcash (ZEC)After purchasing your Zcash (ZEC), store it in your HTX account. Alternatively, you can send it elsewhere via blockchain transfer or use it to trade other cryptocurrencies.Step 4: Trade Zcash (ZEC)Easily trade Zcash (ZEC) on HTX's spot market. Simply access your account, select your trading pair, execute your trades, and monitor in real-time. We offer a user-friendly experience for both beginners and seasoned traders.

3.1k Total ViewsPublished 2024.03.29Updated 2025.03.21

How to Buy ZEC

Discussions

Welcome to the HTX Community. Here, you can stay informed about the latest platform developments and gain access to professional market insights. Users' opinions on the price of ZEC (ZEC) are presented below.

活动图片

Top Questions

Hot Categoriesright-arrow

Hot Tagsright-arrow