AI Summary
5 min readCypherpunk Owns $500M of Zcash and 18% of Its Hashrate | CIO Will McEvoy
"10% of Bitcoin seems like fairly reasonable given the quality of the tech and the privacy features," says Will McEvoy, CIO of Cypherpunk Technologies. At current prices, that would put Zcash at roughly $10,000 per coin — a 7x from where it trades today. McEvoy's firm is the largest publicly traded company focused on privacy, holding about 326,000 Zcash (roughly $500 million) and controlling approximately 18% of the network's mining hash power. Their stated goal: accumulate 5% of the total Zcash supply, which would be over a million coins.
Why Zcash Woke Up
Zcash sat dormant for years, trading around $50 as recently as early 2024. Then it ripped to $1,500 — a 30x move. McEvoy points to two converging forces.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:00) **🎙️ Introduction: Will McEvoy**
- 2 (01:29) **Why Zcash Rallied from $50 to $150**
- 3 (05:44) **Bitcoin Whales & the Deanonymization Risk**
- 4 (12:35) **Cypherpunk Technologies: Genesis & Business Model**
- 5 (15:52) **Investment Mandate & Balance Sheet Details**
- 6 (18:24) **The Zcash Mining Opportunity**
- 7 (22:37) **Future Hash Rate & Mining Analogy**
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Show Notes
In a world of powerful AI, how private is a public blockchain? Will McEvoy, CIO of Cypherpunk Technologies and principal at Winklevoss Capital, joins David to explore why Bitcoin holders may be rethinking transparency and why Zcash is attracting renewed attention. They break down Cypherpunk's ambitious plan to accumulate 5% of the Zcash supply, the surprising economics behind its mining business, and the larger opportunity in digital privacy.
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TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Why Zcash Is Back in the Spotlight
3:24 Why Did Zcash Take So Long to Break Out?
5:09 Who Is Buying Zcash?
8:03 Can AI Identify Bitcoin Whales?
12:33 Inside Cypherpunk Technologies
16:39 Cypherpunk's Treasury and Valuation
17:57 Why Zcash Mining Is So Profitable
27:38 The Gap Between Zcash's Price and Hashrate
31:21 Mining Zcash and Keeping It
33:01 Why Buy CYPH Instead of Zcash?
38:05 What Is Cypherpunk Technologies Actually Worth?
41:44 Zcash's Builders and the Orchard Bug
46:37 Will McAvoy's Investing Background
49:23 Could Zcash Reach $10,000?
51:22 Will Governments Accept Financial Privacy?
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RESOURCES
Will McEvoy
https://x.com/will__mcevoy
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