The biotech firm is shifting to a crypto-focused strategy, backed by Winklevoss Capital, and investing $50 million in the Zcash protocol’s native token.
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Shares of Leap Therapeutics (Nasdaq: LPTX) surged more than 170% in early trading on Wednesday after the company announced a shift to a crypto treasury strategy.
The company its rebranding as Cypherpunk Technologies (Nasdaq: CYPH) and adoption of a digital asset treasury strategy focused on Zcash (ZEC), the native token of the Zcash protocol.
The biotech company used $50 million from a $58.88 million private placement led by Winklevoss Capital to purchase 203,775 Zcash () at an average price of $245.37 per token, marking a move away from biotechnology and into the crypto sector.
Winklevoss Capital is a venture capital firm founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, who also co-founded the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini.
“As our lives have moved online, privacy’s become a rare, vanishing commodity… That’s why we founded Cypherpunk — a company dedicated to privacy and self-sovereignty,” Tyler Winklevoss, one of the founders of , wrote on .
Launched in 2016 as a Bitcoin fork, Zcash () is a privacy-focused blockchain that uses zero-knowledge proofs (zk-SNARKs) to verify transactions without revealing sender, receiver, or amount.
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Cypherpunk’s new business strategy comes with two additions to its board of directors. Khing Oei, the CEO of a European Bitcoin treasury company, will serve as chairman of the board. Will McEvoy, principal at Winklevoss Capital, will serve as Cypherpunk’s chief investment officer.
ZEC has been on a ride this year. The , jumping from about $48 in early September to over $640 within weeks and reclaiming a spot among the top 20 cryptocurrencies.
BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes recently ZEC’s price could reach $1,000 in 2025. However, recent technical indicators suggest a price correction could be in store.
According to market analysts, the token is now the , with its relative strength index (RSI) reaching 94.24 this week.
Historically, when ZEC’s relative strength index (RSI) climbs above 70, the token often extends its rally for weeks before undergoing steep corrections that have ranged from roughly 45% to more than 90%.
On Wednesdays, Hayes Zcash holders to and into self-custody, telling users on X to “shield” their assets for private transactions.
His comments came amid heavy volatility, with ZEC spiking to $723 over the weekend before sliding 37% to around $450 by .
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