Nasdaq-listed Leap Therapeutics has rebranded to Cypherpunk Applied sciences Inc. because it pursues a digital asset technique by accumulating ZEC, the native token of privateness coin Zcash.
The Cambridge-based biotech firm introduced Wednesday that it’ll deploy capital to launch its digital asset technique after securing a $58.88 million personal placement led by Winklevoss Capital, the enterprise capital agency based by Gemini founders Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss. decryption.
The corporate has already used $50 million of the proceeds to buy 203,775.27 ZEC at a median worth of $245 per token and plans to start buying and selling on Thursday beneath the brand new ticker image CYPH.
Cypherpunk Applied sciences joins a rising listing of public firms utilizing cryptocurrencies as a steadiness sheet technique, following Technique’s Bitcoin technique and comparable monetary experiments throughout the company world.
Cypherpunk’s axis focuses on Zcash, the most important privacy-focused cryptocurrency that makes use of zero-knowledge proofs to confirm transactions with out revealing pockets addresses or quantities, in contrast to Bitcoin’s absolutely clear ledger.
Zcash soared practically 10 instances in two months, hitting practically $735 on Friday and inflicting $51 million in short-term liquidations, earlier than falling to round $464 early Wednesday, nonetheless 85% beneath its 2016 excessive of $3,191, in keeping with CoinGecko knowledge.
Douglas E. Onsi, president and chief government officer of Cypherpunk Applied sciences, mentioned the corporate’s digital asset holdings complement its biotechnology enterprise whereas “creating long-term shareholder worth by way of our energetic participation in Zcash.”
A brand new administration workforce accompanying the rebrand will see Kin Oei named chairman, whereas Will McEvoy, a principal at Winklevoss Capital, will develop into Cypherpunk’s first CEO and be a part of the corporate’s board of administrators efficient Monday.
Daiei is the founder and CEO of Netherlands-based Bitcoin finance firm Treasury, which raised $147 million (€126 million) in September by way of a personal spherical led by Winklevoss Capital and Nakamoto Holdings.
McEvoy famous that whereas different crypto treasuries are caught beneath “short-term mercenary capital,” Cypherpunk has constructed a “value-aligned” investor base targeted on the long-term significance of Zcash and privateness to “america and the world.”
Will Owens, a analysis analyst at Galaxy Digital, famous in a latest report that Zcash is gaining traction as an alternative choice to Bitcoin amid rising considerations about on-chain surveillance.
“Proponents of Zcash body it as ‘crypto-Bitcoin,’ a return to cypherpunk ideas that resonate amid widespread on-chain surveillance,” Owens wrote, contrasting this with Bitcoin’s fully clear transaction historical past.
The guardian firm of cryptocurrency change Gemini, based by the Winklevoss brothers, not too long ago filed to enter the prediction market enterprise and reported its first quarterly outcomes as a publicly traded firm following its September IPO.
Gemini reported a internet lack of $159.5 million in its first-quarter earnings report attributable to larger IPO-related prices and advertising bills, in keeping with a letter to shareholders despatched Tuesday.
