Winklevoss Asset Services submitted a Form S-1 registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on October 6, 2026, seeking to launch a spot Zcash exchange-traded fund. The product would trade on Nasdaq under the ticker WINK and provide direct exposure to ZEC tokens rather than futures or other derivatives.

The filing marks the latest effort by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss in the digital-asset ETF space. It arrives more than 13 years after the twins submitted one of the earliest proposals for a spot Bitcoin ETF in July 2013. Winklevoss Asset Services, a newly formed sponsor wholly owned by Winklevoss Asset Services Holdings and led by chief executive Cameron Winklevoss, would oversee the fund.

Structure, Custody and Fees

Under the proposed structure, the ETF would hold actual ZEC. Gemini Trust Company, described in the filing as an affiliate of the sponsor, would serve as custodian and maintain the tokens in segregated cold storage. Authorized participants would create and redeem shares through a cash model: they would deliver dollars for new shares, and the fund would use those proceeds to acquire ZEC. Redemptions would similarly settle in cash, avoiding direct transfer of the cryptocurrency.

The trust would pay the sponsor an annual fee of 0.25 percent, accrued daily in ZEC. Ordinary operating expenses would also be covered under the arrangement. The preliminary prospectus leaves certain operational details blank, including the precise pricing benchmark, administrator and seed capital arrangements.

Ecosystem Partnership and Existing Holdings

Cypherpunk Technologies would act as the Zcash ecosystem partner. The Nasdaq-listed firm, backed by the Winklevoss brothers, would assist with protocol development and coinholder polling. Cypherpunk has already accumulated a substantial ZEC position, previously reported at more than 290,000 tokens representing roughly 1.76 percent of circulating supply, with a longer-term target of at least 5 percent. Zooko Wilcox, founder of Zcash, serves as a strategic adviser to the company. Gemini was among the first licensed platforms to support Zcash trading and custody.

Market Context and Competitive Landscape

The filing positions WINK as a potential second U.S. spot Zcash ETF. Grayscale’s ZCSH, which converted from a trust and began trading on NYSE Arca on August 25, 2026, charges a 2.50 percent management fee. That fund has attracted hundreds of millions of dollars in assets, though it recorded weekly outflows exceeding $93 million in the period ended October 2. Bitwise has also pursued a similar product.

ZEC advanced more than 5 percent in the 24 hours surrounding the announcement, trading above $1,376. The broader cryptocurrency market rose nearly 1 percent over the same period. Traders continued to monitor the scheduled October 20 decision on activation of the NU7 network upgrade, which aims to reduce block times while preserving daily issuance.

The registration remains subject to SEC review. No trading launch date has been set, and approval is not assured. The proposed product would offer investors brokerage-account access to ZEC without the need to hold the tokens in personal wallets.