[Grayscale Chief Legal Officer: Zcash Ecosystem Enters a New Institutional Phase After Nearly a Decade of Development] Odaily Planet Daily News – Craig Salm, Chief Legal Officer of digital asset management company Grayscale Investments, stated that the company's Zcash investment product has been upgraded to become the world's first Zcash exchange-traded product (ETP), marking a significant step for privacy-focused crypto assets into broader compliant investment channels. Following the launch of the Zcash ETP, investors can now gain exposure to ZEC through SEC-registered traditional financial products. Grayscale noted that this signifies the Zcash ecosystem, after nearly a decade of development, is entering a new institutional phase. Salm recalled that Grayscale introduced the Zcash Investment Trust in 2018, which was one of only four products offered by the company at the time. After years of regulatory communication, the product has recently been transformed into the Zcash ETP, with the stock ticker symbol ZCSH. The process of bringing the Zcash product to the public market was not without challenges. Due to ZEC's privacy features, the company faced heightened regulatory scrutiny when launching its first publicly quoted Zcash fund in 2021, but ultimately succeeded in bringing the product to market. Data shows that the adoption rate of Zcash's privacy transaction features has been steadily increasing. In February 2026, shielded transactions accounted for a record high of 59.3%, and following the recent Ironwood upgrade, this level has been approached once again. Currently, approximately 4.4 million ZEC are held in the shielded pool, accounting for about 26% of the circulating supply.