Author: Protos

Translation: Shenchao TechFlow

Shenchao Overview: The Winklevoss-supported Zcash (ZEC) treasury company has a market value of less than half of its holdings and is now relying on a cancer drug to tell a new story. This exposes the general discount predicament of publicly traded crypto companies and reminds ZEC investors to pay attention to the financing risks of the company.

The Winklevoss-supported Zcash (ZEC) treasury company Cypherpunk Technologies announced that it plans to shift its focus to its cancer drug candidate. Previously, the company reported a net loss of 37.8 million dollars in the first six months of 2026.

The company acknowledged that unless the ZEC price rebounds quickly, it would need to raise a significant amount of funds to pay for the upcoming FDA trials.

The company forecasted today: "We expect to continue to incur operational losses for the foreseeable future."

Cypherpunk's ZEC holdings are valued at approximately 157 million dollars, but Nasdaq traders value the entire company at only 74 million dollars.

This equates to 0.47 times the net asset value of the underlying assets (mNAV). It is not surprising that crypto treasury stocks continue to trade below their holding values.

If the pre-funded warrants and other perks are included in the company's claimed enterprise value mNAV, the multiples on the homepage rise to 0.96 times - but still below the value of its ZEC holdings.

Figure: Cypherpunk Technologies five-year stock price chart. Source: TradingView

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss' Support

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are billionaires who helped build the company's ZEC brand.

Initially, the company was very successful, acquiring ZEC at an average purchase price of 341.84 dollars - far below the current market price of ZEC at 486 dollars.

The company's stock reached 3.70 dollars last November but has since dropped back below 0.69 dollars per share.

Cypherpunk has lost tens of millions of dollars this year, yet continues to plan an expensive FDA trial pathway for its cancer drug. The stock has fallen 40% this year and has decreased 96% over the past five years.

The Winklevoss twins' exchange, Gemini, holds the company's ZEC.

Cancer Trials Require More Money, ZEC Can’t Help

Cypherpunk's cancer drug candidate is the anti-DKK1 antibody Sirexatamab. In a randomized phase 2 study, it failed to outperform the control group on progression-free survival for all patients.

The company attributes this to insufficient grasp during the final analysis.

In the digital asset treasury business, the ZEC price has been flat this year, so it hasn't helped either.

The FDA granted this candidate a fast track designation in May, which will expedite the regulatory review. The agency also agreed to a phase 3 trial plan for approximately 270 patients with colorectal cancer.

Onsi stated that the company is "conducting a strategic process to determine the best path forward for Sirexatamab: whether as a spin-off company with independent financing or in collaboration with partners equally committed to cancer patients."

To put it bluntly, this candidate drug needs more money.

Tyler Winklevoss wrote at the launch: "We plan to continue rapidly accumulating ZEC, so Cypherpunk holds at least 5% of the total ZEC supply."

Nine months later, the company now holds 323,394 ZEC, which is 1.92% of the circulating supply.

As of June 30, the company had only 7.6 million dollars in cash and cash equivalents, 500 million dollars in accumulated deficits, a business continually operating at a loss, and a costly pathway for its idealized drug towards FDA approval.