Folks, listen up — this is one of those wild Wall Street stories that makes you rub your eyes and check the ticker twice. Yesterday a little biotech called Leap Therapeutics (old ticker LPTX) woke up, changed its name to Cypherpunk Technologies, and said “hold my pipette, we’re going all-in on privacy coin Zcash.” Starting today, November 13, 2025, it trades as CYPH on Nasdaq. As of this writing, the stock is absolutely screaming higher on massive volume after the announcement dropped.
What Exactly Happened?
Boom! The company closed a $58.88 million private placement led by none other than Winklevoss Capital — yes, the Gemini twins — and immediately turned around and dropped $50 million of it into Zcash (ZEC). They scooped up 203,775 ZEC at an average price of about $245 a coin. With ZEC flying lately, those holdings are already worth a whole lot more as of this morning.
The new team is stacked with crypto heavy hitters: Khing Oei, founder of a big European Bitcoin treasury shop, is the new chairman. Will McEvoy from Winklevoss Capital steps in as the first-ever Chief Investment Officer. This isn’t some fly-by-night operation — these guys are dead serious about making Zcash a core corporate reserve asset.
Why Zcash? This Isn’t Just Another Bitcoin Copycat
Everybody knows Bitcoin is digital gold — transparent, immutable, impossible to confiscate. But in a world where every transaction can be traced forever, Zcash is the encrypted vault. It gives you the option to shield your transactions completely while still proving everything is legit. The company calls it “digital privacy in asset form” and a perfect hedge against Big Brother watching every move on regular blockchains.
Think about it: as more money, stocks, bonds, and real estate move onto blockchains, the ability to keep certain things private is going to be huge. Cypherpunk is betting that Zcash becomes the go-to privacy layer for the entire financial system. And with the Winklevoss crew writing the check, they’re not alone in that thinking.
The Upside Case is Pretty Exciting
If Zcash catches fire the way Bitcoin did for corporate treasuries, CYPH could end up sitting on an absolute monster pile of value. They already own over 1% of all ZEC in existence and plan to keep buying until they hit at least 5%. That’s real scarcity. Plus, the company still has its cancer-drug pipeline running in a subsidiary, so there’s that biotech optionality if any of those programs hit.
Long-term aligned capital, no toxic warrants dumped on the market, and a clear mission: protect privacy in a world that’s going full surveillance. That’s the bull case in a nutshell.
But Let’s Talk Risks — This Ain’t for the Faint of Heart
Come on, we’re grown-ups here. Putting half your war chest into one altcoin? That’s bold. Zcash could moon, or it could fade if privacy coins keep getting regulatory side-eye. Crypto prices swing like a pendulum on steroids — your stock price will be married to ZEC’s moves, for better or worse.
There’s still a biotech burn rate in the background, dilution risk from that fresh $200 million ATM they just filed, and a shareholder meeting coming up in December that could authorize more shares or even a reverse split. Small-cap treasury plays have been a rollercoaster all year; some exploded higher, others got wrecked by mercenary capital. Cypherpunk says they avoided that trap, but time will tell.
The Bottom Line
CYPH is the purest public-company privacy play we’ve seen yet. The Winklevoss stamp, the monster initial buy, the laser focus on Zcash — this thing is swinging for the fences. Volatility? Guaranteed. Upside if privacy becomes the next big narrative? Potentially life-changing.
Watch ZEC, watch the volume, and buckle up. This one’s going to be fun.
