Grayscale Zcash ETF Hits $1B as Privacy Assets Gain Traction
Zcash (ZEC)
Editor:
Eugene Serbin
nftenex.com reports that Grayscale’s Zcash-focused ETF has crossed the $1 billion threshold, a level that typically signals investability for institutional allocators. This milestone places the privacy-preserving asset alongside other Grayscale products that have seen substantial weekly gains recently. Managing Director Lynch described the achievement as evidence of a broader structural shift, noting that regulated exchange-traded wrappers are becoming the default entry point for both retail and institutional crypto exposure.
The firm has expanded its lineup aggressively, including launching a Chainlink ETF that pulled $41 million in inflows at launch. Lynch’s view suggests that demand for single-asset crypto ETFs extends beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum. Privacy-coin products have attracted meaningful capital, supporting Grayscale’s argument that the Zcash bull run has further room to run.
While a single fund crossing $1 billion does not prove a market-wide trend, it confirms that regulated vehicles for less-mainstream assets can reach institutional scale. This capital flow increases liquidity and price discovery for the underlying asset without requiring direct custody. The pattern mirrors Solana ETFs, which attracted $650 million in inflows during broader market volatility. Grayscale believes the list of assets with enough institutional demand to sustain ETF products is longer than the market currently prices in.
How the market reacted
Whalio's own Binance spot order flow for ZEC, measured when this story was written up on 8 October 2026. Not the outlet's figures.
Zcash is trading at $1,327.98 with a 24-hour spot volume of $159,401,113. The 1-hour buy ratio stands at 54.9%, indicating immediate buying pressure, while the 4-hour ratio drops to 46.2%, suggesting that buying momentum is fading over the slightly longer timeframe. Volume delta reflects this shift, showing a positive +$1,057,995 in the last hour but a negative -$1,347,400 over four hours. The 24-hour volume delta is +$5,681,494, with a cumulative CVD of +$3,959,652, confirming net buying over the full day. Net buying occurred for 14 of the last 24 hours, with 400,788 trades recorded.
The latest daily buy ratio of 52.9% sits at the 82nd percentile of the last 322 days, against a median of 50.2% - stronger buying than most days.
Was that an ordinary day?
The same Binance spot measurements for ZEC, averaged over the days leading up to the story.
Over the preceding week, the average buy ratio was 50.7%, with the latest day showing a slight increase of 1.0 point. Volume was 0.88x the average, indicating lighter trading activity compared to the norm. The price dropped 7.7% over eight days, with a total volume delta of +$11,518,795. This represents an unusual day for the coin, as the latest day's buy ratio outperformed the weekly average by 1.0 point despite lower relative volume.