Winklevoss Asset Services has submitted an S-1 filing to the SEC for a proposed spot Zcash ETF that would hold ZEC directly and seek a Nasdaq listing under the ticker WINK. The filing was submitted on October 6, 2026.
The proposal remains subject to change. The prospectus states that the information in the registration statement is preliminary and that WINK shares cannot be offered for sale until the registration statement becomes effective.
The ETF would carry a 0.25% annual sponsor fee and use Gemini Trust Company as its ZEC custodian. The proposed structure would not employ leverage or derivatives. Affiliates of Winklevoss Capital Fund have also indicated that they may purchase up to $100 million in shares, although the filing explicitly says the indication is nonbinding.
The filing arrived as ZEC traded near $1,315, down almost 3% over the previous 24 hours. Trading volume was approximately $679 million, while the cryptocurrency was still up 11% over the prior 30 days. The ETF proposal could give Zcash another potential catalyst following its recent price gains.
WINK Would Offer Direct ZEC Exposure Through a Brokerage
The proposed trust would seek to track the value of the ZEC it holds, after deducting operating expenses and other liabilities. If approved, the structure would allow investors to gain Zcash exposure through a conventional brokerage account without having to purchase or personally custody ZEC.
Despite the brokerage-based access, the underlying exposure would remain direct. The trust would own ZEC itself and, according to the filing, would not use derivatives or leverage to achieve its investment objective.
Investors would still face the full volatility of ZEC. WINK shares could also trade at a premium or discount to the trust’s net asset value when they change hands on Nasdaq.
Winklevoss Asset Services would sponsor the trust, while Gemini Trust Company, its affiliate, would hold the fund’s ZEC. The proposed 0.25% sponsor fee is a major term of the product, although it does not guarantee that WINK will attract assets or successfully compete with existing Zcash investment products.
The filing says Winklevoss Capital Fund, through one or more affiliates, has expressed interest in buying up to $100 million of WINK shares. The purchases could be made through authorized participants or on the open market. However, this is not a binding order or committed seed investment, and the affiliates could ultimately purchase more, less, or none of the indicated amount.
The proposed fund would enter a U.S. market that already includes Grayscale’s Zcash ETF, ZCSH. The primary report also said Grayscale had recently announced a 3-for-1 share split.
At that point, ZEC had gained more than 735% over the previous year and was trading around $1,354 on Tuesday, October 6, with a market capitalization of approximately $23 billion. Those figures describe the market at that time and should not be treated as the current ZEC quote.
WINK Could Simplify Institutional Access to Zcash
Zcash uses zero-knowledge proofs to enable shielded transactions that can conceal transaction amounts and the identities of senders and recipients. Through WINK, brokerage investors could obtain exposure to ZEC without directly interacting with those privacy features or taking responsibility for cryptocurrency custody.
Under the proposed arrangement, Gemini Trust Company would hold all ZEC belonging to the trust, while CSC Delaware Trust Company would serve as trustee.
The filing also names Cypherpunk Technologies as a Zcash Ecosystem Partner. Its potential responsibilities include coinholder polling and providing guidance on protocol and technical matters.
For an institutional crypto product, custody arrangements are central to the structure because they determine how the underlying asset supporting investor exposure is held. The WINK filing remains preliminary, however, leaving several operational details subject to change during the registration process.
