Winklevoss Files for Spot Zcash ETF With 0.25% Fee, WINK Ticker

Published October 6, 2026, 23:30 UTC. Based on the preliminary S-1 registration statement filed with the SEC on October 6, 2026, as reported by The Block, Cointelegraph, U.Today and Portal Cripto.

Winklevoss Asset Services, a newly formed sponsor, filed a preliminary S-1 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on October 6, 2026, proposing a spot Zcash (ZEC) exchange-traded fund that would trade on Nasdaq under the ticker WINK, The Block reported.

The 0.25% fee challenge

The proposed fund would hold ZEC directly, with Gemini Trust Company serving as custodian, and would charge a 0.25% annual sponsor fee while covering ordinary operating expenses, according to the filing details reported by The Block. The trust has also entered into an agreement with Cypherpunk Technologies to serve as its Zcash ecosystem partner, assisting with protocol development and coinholder polling.

The fee is the sharpest part of the challenge. It would undercut the 2.5% sponsor fee Grayscale disclosed for its Zcash trust conversion, according to Zcash Weekly’s review of that filing. The sponsor, Winklevoss Asset Services, is wholly owned by Winklevoss Asset Services Holdings, The Block reported. The S-1 is preliminary: shares cannot trade until the SEC declares the registration effective, so this is the start of the approval process, not a launch.

The $100 million vote of confidence

Winklevoss Capital Fund has indicated interest in purchasing up to $100 million of the ETF’s shares, although the indication is nonbinding, The Block reported. A confirmed cornerstone purchase at that size would give the fund significant day-one scale, but as a nonbinding indication it is a signal of intent rather than a commitment.

Thirteen years after the bitcoin bid

The filing lands 13 years after Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss filed for the first U.S. spot bitcoin ETF, The Block noted. The SEC rejected that 2017 application over concerns about bitcoin price manipulation, according to CoinDesk’s account of the filing’s history. U.Today called the Zcash filing a return to ETF filings by the twins more than a decade after their historic first attempt.

Challenging Grayscale’s ZCSH

The Grayscale Zcash ETF (ZCSH) is currently the only live U.S. spot ZEC ETF, having begun trading in August, The Block reported. It attracted more than $233 million in inflows and reached nearly $890 million in net assets in less than a month after launch, prompting a 3-for-1 share split. Bitwise has also filed for a Zcash ETF, The Block reported, which means the Winklevoss fund would enter a three-way race for regulated ZEC exposure if all three reach the market.

Why the twins bet on Zcash

The filing builds on years of Winklevoss involvement with Zcash. Gemini became the first licensed exchange to offer Zcash trading and custody, and Winklevoss-backed entities later accumulated significant ZEC, including a $29 million purchase by Cypherpunk that brought its holdings to nearly 2% of circulating ZEC, The Block reported. Tyler and Cameron also donated $1.2 million worth of ZEC to Shielded Labs, an independent Zcash development organization.

A second spot ZEC product, priced at a fraction of the incumbent’s fee, would deepen regulated access to the privacy coin and compress margins in what is quickly becoming a competitive corner of the crypto ETF market.

This article is news reporting and is not investment advice.

Sources

• U.S. SEC, Winklevoss Asset Services preliminary Form S-1 registration statement for a spot Zcash ETF (filed Oct. 6, 2026), primary source
• The Block, Winklevoss group seeks to launch Zcash ETF with 0.25% fee, proposed WINK ticker (Oct. 6, 2026)
• Cointelegraph, Winklevoss-backed Zcash ETF files with SEC for Nasdaq listing (Oct. 7, 2026)
• U.Today, Winklevoss Twins File for Zcash ETF 13 Years After Historic Bitcoin ETF Bid (Oct. 6, 2026)
• Portal Cripto, Winklevoss proposes Zcash ETF with a 0.25% fee in the U.S. (Oct. 7, 2026)