Grayscale announces 3-for-1 share split for Zcash ETF after $233 million in inflows

Grayscale has announced a 3-for-1 forward share split for its Zcash ETF (ZCSH) following a massive surge in investor demand. Since its NYSE Arca debut on August 25, 2026, the fund has attracted over $233 million in net inflows, pushing its net assets to approximately $890 million. This rapid growth coincided with Zcash's native token (ZEC) rallying to an effective all-time high of $1,521, which has also driven network hashrate and mining difficulty to record levels ahead of the upcoming NU7 upgrade.

ZCSH 3-for-1 share split

• ▪Grayscale's Zcash ETF filed a Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 18, 2026, to execute a 3-for-1 forward share split.
• ▪Shareholders of record for Grayscale's Zcash ETF at the close of trading on September 28, 2026, will receive two additional shares for every share held.
• ▪The 3-for-1 forward split will triple the share count of Grayscale's Zcash ETF while reducing the per-share net asset value to approximately one-third, leaving the total economic value of each investor's holding unchanged.
• ▪Grayscale's Zcash ETF will continue trading on NYSE Arca under the ticker ZCSH and retain the same CUSIP number after its 3-for-1 forward share split announced on September 18, 2026
• ▪The additional shares of Grayscale's Zcash ETF will be distributed after market close on September 29, 2026, with split-adjusted trading starting on September 30, 2026.

Zcash ETF inflows surge

• ▪Digital Currency Group International Investments acquired approximately $100 million of Grayscale's Zcash ETF shares in exchange for 85,705.32563297 ZEC, as disclosed in a September 8, 2026, SEC filing.
• ▪Grayscale's Zcash ETF held approximately $890 million in net assets and generated over $11 billion in cumulative trading volume as of September 17, 2026.
• ▪Grayscale's Zcash ETF recorded a single-day inflow of $112 million on September 8, 2026, and a $46.6 million inflow on September 16, 2026.
• ▪Investors have poured more than $233 million in cumulative net inflows into Grayscale's Zcash ETF since its launch on August 25, 2026.

ZEC price rally momentum

• ▪Zcash's native ZEC token climbed as high as $1,521 early on September 18, 2026, marking a new effective all-time high.
• ▪Grayscale's Zcash ETF closed at $117.72 on September 18, 2026, after gaining 16.01% on September 17 and 14.11% on September 16.
• ▪Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang disclosed the investment firm's exposure to ZEC on September 16, 2026, describing Zcash as a private complement to Bitcoin.

Zcash mining activity increase

• ▪The estimated gross revenue for Bitmain's Z15 Pro mining machine slipped below its late-August level in September 2026 due to increased network competition dividing rewards.
• ▪Zcash mining difficulty rose to a record high of approximately 291 million alongside the network's hashrate increase.
• ▪The estimated solrate of the Zcash network increased by nearly 28%, climbing from approximately 25 GSol/s in late August 2026 to just under 32 GSol/s by mid-September 2026.

NU7 protocol upgrade timeline

• ▪Approximately 99.9% of participating ZEC in a recent governance poll on Zcash's NU7 upgrade supported reducing the block target to 25 seconds, while 98.9% backed retaining the existing halving schedule
• ▪The planned Zcash NU7 upgrade aims to reduce the network's target block spacing from 75 seconds to 25 seconds to allow faster transaction confirmations.
• ▪Zcash development teams have scheduled the NU7 network upgrade for testnet activation on October 6, 2026, and target November 5, 2026, for mainnet activation.

Debatable claims

• ▪Grayscale's Zcash ETF undermines the coin's purpose by using transparent wallets
• ▪Regulators should permit exchange-traded funds for privacy-focused cryptocurrencies