Zcash (ZEC) quotes have soared to their highest levels in eight years. The trigger for the powerful rally was the fifth revision of the exchange-traded fund application from Grayscale, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The asset manager's activity suggests that the final stage of product approval is near, although the regulator has not yet issued a final verdict. If the outcome is positive, we will get the first ETF in U.S. history to directly track the price of Zcash.
Details of the new document: fee and ticker revealed
In the previous, fourth version of the document, Grayscale left key questions unanswered — the fee amount and the name of the future fund. The fifth revision closed these gaps: the manager will charge 2.5% per annum of the trust's net asset value, accrued daily.
The trust itself has been renamed The Zcash ETF. Trading of its shares is planned to launch on the NYSE Arca exchange under the ticker ZCSH. The document emphasizes that the fund's securities are not direct ownership of ZEC, but an instrument providing investors with access to the token's price in a simple and relatively inexpensive way.
Grayscale has also voluntarily committed to directing all fees to marketing and product development for 12 months. It is important to understand: this is not a strict regulator requirement, but an initiative of the company itself, which it may abandon at any time. The fund's assets will be held by Coinbase Custody Trust Company, while Bank of New York Mellon will take on the roles of transfer agent and administrator.
The market reacts instantly: ZEC is the growth leader
The application was filed against the backdrop of a broader crypto market recovery, but it was ZEC that became its main beneficiary. Over the past 24 hours, the coin's price has risen by 34% — the best result among the top 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. On Saturday, the token surpassed the $800 mark for the first time since January 2018, reaching $857 during the day, before correcting to $784.
The $800 level had long served as insurmountable resistance for Zcash. It is worth recalling that the all-time high was recorded back in October 2016 at $3,191, so the current growth is only part of the journey back to previous heights.
It is important to note that the rally followed the June crash, when a security expert disclosed a vulnerability in one of the network's shielded pools. At that time, ZEC lost about half of its value until an emergency update resolved the issue. The current surge demonstrates how sensitive the market is to institutional news and how quickly assets with strong fundamentals recover.
My assessment: The filing of the fifth revision is not just a formality, but a signal that Grayscale and the SEC are in the final stage of negotiations. Given the 2.5% fee and the ZCSH ticker, the product is ready for launch. The question is only a matter of time. For Zcash, this is a potentially pivotal moment: ETF approval could not only return the price to all-time highs, but also radically change the perception of privacy coins among institutional investors.