ZEC’s 100% rally above $1500 sends Grayscale’s Zcash ETF within $85 million of $1 billion

Grayscale’s Zcash ETF sits $85 million below the $1 billion asset threshold, a gap that has narrowed sharply since the fund began trading on NYSE Arca in late August. According to SoSoValue data, the ZCSH product has accumulated $914.53 million in net assets, while its cumulative net inflows stand at only $270.95 million.

The divergence between the asset base and the capital raised reveals that price appreciation, not new subscriptions, is driving the fund’s current size. The underlying Zcash token has roughly doubled in value since the ETF’s debut, lifting the market value of the coins already held inside the vehicle. Since Sept. 8, when Grayscale reported the fund had crossed $500 million, ZCSH added more than $400 million in assets.

Grayscale announced a 3-for-1 forward split on Sept. 18 to lower the nominal share price, a move confirmed in the company’s filing. Shareholders of record as of the Sept. 28 close will receive two additional shares for every one held, with split-adjusted trading expected before the opening bell on Sept. 30. The company did not state whether the adjustment is intended to increase demand or liquidity.

The fund’s growth coincides with a record in derivatives markets that introduces a distinct risk to its valuation. CoinGlass data shows ZEC futures open interest climbing to an all-time high of about $3.5 billion, while trading volume crossed $10 billion for the first time since early June. As the source article notes, higher open interest does not establish that positioning is uniformly bullish, but record exposure increases sensitivity to abrupt reversals. Analysts cited in CoinMarketCap also stress that ZEC’s realized volatility remains several times higher than the broader market average.

The next structural date is Sept. 30, the implementation-readiness deadline for Zcash’s NU7 upgrade. Holders backed advancing the upgrade as quickly as possible while excluding features that miss this cutoff. If ZEC holds its recent gains and inflows continue, the fund could cross the $1 billion mark before that date, but the record derivatives exposure means any sharp reversal in the token would feed directly into the fund’s asset value.