Cypherpunk Launches With $50M Zcash Bet Backed by Winklevoss Twins

By Marco Piccolo

From biotech to blockchain: The rise of Cypherpunk

Cypherpunk Technologies, a newly rebranded company backed by crypto billionaires Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, has launched with a $50 million investment into Zcash. Formerly operating as biotech firm Leap Therapeutics, the Nasdaq-listed company will now trade under the ticker symbol CYPH as it transitions into a digital asset treasury firm.

Cypherpunk Technologies is backing a world built on privacy and individual control. We’re proud to secure their treasury with Gemini’s institutional grade crypto custody.

The future is private and self-sovereign. https://t.co/w1edVGPAI1 pic.twitter.com/nC7BYcKCXl

— Gemini (@Gemini) November 12, 2025

The pivot comes on the heels of a $58.88 million funding round led by Winklevoss Capital. Of those funds, $50 million has already been used to purchase 203,775 ZEC at an average price of $245 per token. This acquisition represents a strategic bet on privacy-focused crypto assets, with Cypherpunk aiming to eventually own 5% of Zcash’s total supply.

Will McEvoy, a principal at Winklevoss Capital, has been appointed Chief Investment Officer of Cypherpunk and joins the board. He emphasized the firm’s long-term vision:

“We’ve taken a different path by building a syndicate of value-aligned investors who believe in the long-term importance of Zcash and privacy for the United States and the world.”

Cypherpunk joins a growing list of companies adopting Bitcoin treasury-like strategies, following a blueprint popularized by MicroStrategy. However, as the hype around digital asset treasuries waned in recent months, Cypherpunk stands out with its focused bet on privacy and its high-profile backing.

Betting big on privacy: Why Zcash?

“Privacy’s become a rare, vanishing commodity,” Tyler Winklevoss said on X. “We feel strongly that Zcash could become a meaningful percentage of Bitcoin’s market capitalisation just on the merits of it being a privacy hedge.”

Privacy is the precondition for many of our freedoms. It’s the point at which government and corporate reach end and our individual freedoms and self-sovereignty begin. As our lives have moved online, privacy’s become a rare, vanishing commodity.

That’s why we founded Cypherpunk… https://t.co/PD38Id90pg

— Tyler Winklevoss (@tyler) November 12, 2025

Zcash, a Bitcoin fork launched in 2016, uses zero-knowledge proofs to shield transaction details. Unlike Bitcoin’s transparent ledger, Zcash offers users the ability to obscure wallet addresses and amounts, a feature increasingly relevant amid growing regulatory pressures on privacy tools. However, it also shares many features with Bitcoin, including a 4-year halving mechanism. 

Cypherpunk’s launch comes as interest in privacy coins surges. Zcash has risen over 1,000% year-to-date and is currently trading above $500. The announcement of the firm’s ZEC acquisition helped fuel this rally, with ZEC climbing an additional 12.2% in the last 24 hours alone. Meanwhile, shares of the former Leap Therapeutics soared 369% following the news.

Zcash creator Zooko Wilcox welcomed the move, highlighting the significance of support from the Winklevoss twins and McEvoy. He quoted Tyler Winklevoss: “If Bitcoin is digital gold, Zcash is encrypted bitcoin, or digital cash. One is your store of value, the other is how you privately move your value.”

Source:: Cypherpunk Launches With $50M Zcash Bet Backed by Winklevoss Twins