US-based biotechnology company Leap Therapeutics has made a bold move into the cryptocurrency sector. The Nasdaq-listed company has changed its name to "Cypherpunk Technologies Inc." As part of this transformation, the company purchased 203,775.27 tokens of the privacy-focused cryptocurrency Zcash (ZEC). This purchase, made at an average price of $245, marked one of the largest investments in privacy-themed assets on the institutional side.
$58.88 Million Funding Completed Led by Winklevoss Capital
The company's transformation was supported by a $58.88 million private equity raise, led entirely by Winklevoss Capital. Approximately $50 million of this funding was used to directly purchase ZEC. The company will trade on the stock exchange under the new ticker symbol "CYPH" starting Thursday.
Cypherpunk Technologies' statement stated that its digital asset strategy will complement the company's existing biotechnology activities. CEO Douglas E. Onsi said, “The Zcash investment is part of our goal to create long-term shareholder value. We believe these privacy-based technologies will be critically important, both financially and socially, in the future.”
As part of the restructuring, the management team has also changed. Khing Oei, founder of Netherlands-based Bitcoin treasury firm Treasury, has become Cypherpunk’s chairman, while Will McEvoy of Winklevoss Capital has been appointed the company’s first CEO. McEvoy said their investor base has formed “a value-driven community that believes in the long-term potential of Zcash and the future of privacy.”
Zcash had gained nearly tenfold in value in the past two months, reaching $735 before falling back to around $460. According to CoinGecko data, the token is still well below its 2016 peak of $3,191. Despite this, Zcash is considered an “encrypted version” of Bitcoin thanks to its privacy-preserving architecture that uses zero-knowledge proofs. According to Galaxy Digital analyst Will Owens, Zcash is an alternative cryptocurrency to Bitcoin in the growing on-chain surveillance environment.
Winklevoss Capital, the investment firm led by the Winklevoss brothers, has recently increased its investments in crypto and financial technologies. The firm, the parent company of the Gemini exchange, reported a net loss of $159.5 million in its first post-IPO financial statement as it prepared to enter the prediction markets in recent months.
Cypherpunk Technologies' Zcash-focused strategy can be considered parallel to the trend of holding crypto assets in corporate treasuries. This trend, which began with MicroStrategy's Bitcoin accumulation model, is now extending to more niche projects. Furthermore, Zcash's privacy-based structure symbolizes a return to its "cypherpunk" roots.
Due to all these developments, the price of Zcash's ZEC is on the rise. As of November 12, 2025, Zcash (ZEC) is trading at $468.74, up 5.88 percent.
