Leap Therapeutics Rebrands to Cypherpunk, Buys $50M Zcash
Leap Therapeutics (NASDAQ: LPTX) announced it will rebrand as Cypherpunk Technologies (CYPH) and adopt a crypto treasury strategy focused on Zcash. The biotech firm raised $58.88 million in a private placement led by Winklevoss Capital. It used $50 million to purchase 203,775 Zcash tokens at an average price of $245.37 each. Following the announcement, the company’s shares surged over 170% in early trading.
Cypherpunk also appointed two new board members: Bitcoin treasury CEO Khing Oei as chairman and Winklevoss Capital’s Will McEvoy as chief investment officer. Zcash is a privacy-centric blockchain from a 2016 Bitcoin fork that uses zk-SNARKs to hide transaction details.
ZEC has rebounded from about $48 in early September to over $640 and ranks among the top 20 cryptocurrencies. Its relative strength index (RSI) hit a record 94.24 this week, signaling an overbought market and potential price correction. BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes predicts ZEC could reach $1,000 by 2025 and urged holders to move tokens to self-custody for private transactions.
Bullish
Leap Therapeutics’ $50 million Zcash acquisition underlines a growing trend of corporate treasury diversification into cryptocurrencies. Led by Winklevoss Capital, this investment mirrors MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin strategy by adding strong buying pressure and signaling institutional confidence in privacy-focused assets. The rebrand to Cypherpunk Technologies and key board appointments boost governance credibility. While ZEC’s record-high RSI suggests a near-term correction risk, the long-term outlook remains bullish as corporate adoption drives demand and market visibility. Overall, the move should support Zcash price fundamentals and encourage further institutional participation in privacy coins.