While the overall cryptocurrency market fell almost 2% over the past day, Zcash, Cypherpunk’s main treasury asset, gained 16%.
- Cypherpunk acquired 203,775 ZEC at an average price of $245.37 per token, now worth over $573 each.
- The company is backed by the Winklevoss twins’ family office, Winklevoss Capital.
- It announced its rebranding of Leap Therapeutics and move to Zcash-based treasury earlier this week.
Shares of newly rebranded Cypherpunk (CYPH) rose nearly 100% on Friday after its digital cash asset, Zcash (ZEC), defied the broader crypto market sell-off.
CYPH stock surged 97% in midday trading after hitting an intraday high of $3.55, before paring some of its gains. Shares of the company, backed by the Winklewoss twins, were trading at around $3.15 at the time of writing. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around the ticker has moved into “extremely bullish” territory, with talk at “extremely high” levels over the past day.
Former POTUS advisor and Zcash advisory board member Thor Torrens said in an article on X that the stock’s rise reinforces his long-held view that “privacy is not a trend.”
Why is CYPH stock rising?
Cypherpunk, formerly known as Leap Therapeutics, rebranded itself earlier this week and announced that it would now pivot to a digital asset treasury (DAT) with Zcash as its primary token. The company also said it used $50 million from its previously announced private placement to purchase 203,775.27 ZEC at an average price of $245.37 per token – ZEC’s price is currently more than double that value at $573, up 16% in the last 24 hours.
The privacy token’s gains come as the overall cryptocurrency market fell nearly 2% in the past 24 hours, with a market capitalization of around $3.37 trillion. Bitcoin (BTC), the cryptocurrency that started the DAT trend, fell more than 3.6%. Bitcoin price was trading at around $96,900 at the time of writing, after falling to an intraday low of $95,200. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around the top cryptocurrency has moved into “neutral” territory, and discussions have moved to “high” levels from “normal” levels over the past day.
Cypherpunk Eyes 5% Zcash Supply
The company’s recent $58.9 million private placement was led by Winklevoss Capital – the family office of Gemini (GEMI) co-founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss. Cypherpunk said it aims to grow its holdings to at least 5% of Zcash’s total supply.
With around 16.3 million ZECs in circulation, the company’s initial purchase already represents around a fifth of this target. Zcash, like Bitcoin, has a fixed maximum supply of 21 million coins.
The price of ZEC has risen more than 1,400% in the past 12 months as privacy tokens have attracted investor attention amid increasing regulatory scrutiny of cryptocurrency markets.
Read also: Bitcoin Falls to $95,000 – Michael Saylor Reportedly Says MSTR “Buying a Lot”
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