21Shares launches Europe's first Zcash ETP on Euronext

Asset manager 21Shares is launching the first European exchange-traded product on Zcash. The product is physically backed and lists on Euronext Paris and Amsterdam, giving investors access to ZEC through an ordinary brokerage account without having to custody the coin themselves. At the same time, 21Shares is introducing a comparable product on ETHFI, the governance token of the DeFi protocol Ether.fi.

In brief:

• 21Shares lists the first Zcash ETP in Europe on Euronext Paris and Amsterdam
• At the same time, the company launches a physically backed ETP on ETHFI, the token of Ether.fi
• Both products have an annual management fee of 2.5%, well above the average for Bitcoin and Ethereum products in Europe

Zcash expands to regulated markets

Zcash is a privacy coin that uses so-called zk-SNARK technology. This allows transactions to be verified on the blockchain without the sender, receiver or amount being publicly visible. The coin was launched in 2016 and has a maximum supply of 21 million ZEC, comparable to Bitcoin.

According to CoinMarketCap, Zcash currently trades at $1.611,78 with a market value of over $27 billion, placing the coin ninth in the ranking of largest cryptocurrencies. In the past 24 hours, the price rose by nearly 9%.

The European introduction follows the US launch of a spot Zcash ETF by Grayscale, which trades under the ticker ZCSH on NYSE Arca. The advance of regulated Zcash products on both sides of the Atlantic points to growing interest from institutional parties in the privacy coin.

Higher costs than for Bitcoin and Ethereum products

In addition to the Zcash product, 21Shares is also introducing a physically backed ETP on ETHFI, the governance and utility token of Ether.fi. This is a decentralised protocol that offers staking and other crypto-related financial services. This product is also listed on Euronext Paris and Amsterdam.

Both products charge an annual管理 fee of 2.5%. That is considerably higher than the fees common for comparable Bitcoin and Ethereum investment products in Europe, where competition has sharply reduced costs in recent years. For example, Bitcoin ETFs are now attracting large capital flows at significantly lower rates.

For investors, the new ETPs offer a regulated way to gain access to ZEC and ETHFI through existing brokerage accounts, without having to store or manage the coins themselves.