Cypherpunk Technologies, the Winklevoss-backed privacy firm building a corporate treasury around the privacy coin Zcash (ZEC), has stood up what it calls the world's largest Zcash mining operation, extending the company beyond simply accumulating the coin to producing it. Zcash, launched in 2016, is one of the oldest privacy-focused cryptocurrencies, using zero-knowledge technology to shield transaction details.

The Nasdaq-listed company announced Monday that it launched Cypherpunk Mining through a $33.33 million equity-based deal with Winklevoss Capital, acquiring the latest-generation Z15 Pro machines—Bitmain's flagship Equihash ASICs—together with their hosting agreements. The U.S.-based fleet is live now, running approximately 4.2 GSol/s of Equihash hashrate—the proof-of-work algorithm that secures the Zcash network—which the company estimates at roughly 18% of the entire Zcash network.

No cash changed hands in the funding: the purchase was financed through a pre-funded warrant for about 43.3 million Cypherpunk shares, pegged to a stock price of $0.77.

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss said the acquisition gives public-market investors a rare route to Zcash mining exposure, which had previously been difficult to come by—much as bitcoin treasury companies opened coin exposure to equity investors who never touch a wallet. Chief Investment Officer Will McEvoy framed mining as the next phase of the company's privacy-focused strategy, saying the ZEC it produces would fund further growth, additional coin purchases, and new privacy-technology investments.

"Zcash hashrate has been concentrated in a small number of miners, pools, and ASIC makers—almost all of it outside the United States," Cameron Winklevoss posted on X following the announcement. "Cypherpunk is changing that. Our fleet is deployed across U.S. facilities, owned outright, and zero debt and power costs locked in low."

Zcash hashrate has been concentrated in a small number of miners, pools, and ASIC makers — almost all of it outside the United States. @cypherpunk is changing that. Our fleet is deployed across US facilities, owned outright, with zero debt and power costs locked in low.

Privacy…

— Cameron Winklevoss (@cameron) August 18, 2026

The mining push feeds directly into Cypherpunk's treasury ambitions. The company already ranks as the largest corporate holder of ZEC, with roughly 323,394 coins—or approximately 1.92% of circulating supply—and is targeting control of 5%. The strategy adapts the corporate-treasury playbook popularized by Michael Saylor's Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) and since copied for ether, XRP, and other tokens—only pointed at a far smaller, more thinly traded market. With about 43,800 ZEC minted to miners each month, the firm said mining accelerates progress toward that goal because its production costs sit below the market price, which makes monthly output and hashrate share the most concrete yardsticks for tracking the 5% target. Cypherpunk has also hired industry veteran Kevin Zhang, formerly of Foundry, as head of mining.

The rollout closes a turbulent stretch for the company's Zcash wager. Cypherpunk's treasury vehicle debuted with Winklevoss backing and rode a sharp ZEC rally that saw the coin climb even as Bitcoin slipped in late 2025, with Zcash creator Zooko Wilcox joining the effort at the tail end of last year.

The path has not been smooth: the stock plunged nearly 40% at one point amid a Zcash privacy bug, highlighting how closely the firm's fortunes are bound to a single, thinly traded asset. Privacy coins carry an added layer of market friction as well—several major exchanges have delisted ZEC and peers like Monero in some jurisdictions in recent years over regulatory concerns about shielded transactions. Zcash currently trades just above $500, up roughly 7% over the past seven days but down around 28% from its peak near $700 last year. Cypherpunk noted that its share price is likely to remain highly correlated to ZEC—a risk that cuts both ways.