The Daily: Winklevoss group seeks to launch Zcash ETF, and more

The following article is adapted from The Block's newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.

Happy Tuesday! Bitcoin is holding steady at around $85,600.

In today's newsletter, the Winklevoss group seeks to launch a Zcash ETF under the proposed WINK ticker, Ondo launches onchain exposure to private companies, Spiko raises $90 million to expand its tokenized cash funds, and more.

Meanwhile, Fortitude expands its Zcash mining push with up to a $100 million equipment commitment, and Polymarket rolls out its V2 upgrade.

P.S. Don't forget to check out The Latent, our sister website covering AI. Get The Latent Daily here and all other The Block newsletters here.

Winklevoss group seeks to launch Zcash ETF with 0.25% fee, WINK ticker

Winklevoss Asset Services has filed with the SEC to launch a spot Zcash ETF that would hold ZEC directly and list on Nasdaq under the proposed ticker WINK.

• Gemini Trust Company would serve as custodian, with the fund charging a 0.25% annual sponsor fee.
• Winklevoss Capital Fund has indicated nonbinding interest in purchasing up to $100 million of shares in the proposed ETF.
• Cypherpunk Technologies would serve as the fund's Zcash ecosystem partner, assisting with areas including protocol development and coinholder polling.
• The filing makes Winklevoss Asset Services the third issuer to pursue a U.S. spot Zcash ETF, after Grayscale and Bitwise.
• Grayscale's Zcash ETF, currently the only live U.S. spot ZEC ETF, has attracted more than $233 million in inflows and reached nearly $890 million in net assets less than a month after its August launch.

Ondo launching onchain private-company exposure, starting with AI

Ondo Finance is launching a private-markets platform offering tokenized notes tied initially to the per-share value of a pre-IPO AI company at a qualifying liquidity event.

• The notes are expected to begin secondary-market trading this week, allowing eligible investors to trade around the clock.
• The notes are not shares in the underlying companies and do not provide ownership or shareholder rights. They are available only to eligible non-U.S. investors in permitted jurisdictions.
• Ondo expects to expand the platform to companies in robotics, cybersecurity, biotech and infrastructure.

Spiko raises $90 million to expand tokenized cash funds across markets

Tokenized cash fund issuer Spiko raised $90 million in a Series B led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA), bringing its total funding to $120 million.

• Index Ventures, Bpifrance, Speedinvest and Wintermute Ventures joined the round, alongside angel investors including former Bundesbank President Axel Weber.
• Spiko plans to use the funding to launch new funds, enter additional markets and expand its team, including local operations across Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and the Nordics.
• The company now has $2.7 billion in assets under management across euro, dollar, sterling and Swiss franc-denominated funds, with more than 10,000 businesses and individuals across over 25 jurisdictions using them.

Conduit sues Tether over $2.76 million freeze, says it has 'no legal entitlement' to funds

Cross-border payments firm Conduit is suing Tether, alleging the USDT issuer froze $2.76 million of its funds more than a year ago and has refused to release them or explain why.

• Conduit said the freeze allegedly stems from an investigation involving Onix Intermediacoes, a former customer, but said law enforcement confirmed its treasury wallet was never flagged for freezing.
• The company also said a Brazilian court confirmed Conduit was not under investigation in the Onix case, while the wallet never held any of Onix's funds.
• Conduit is seeking the release of the $2.76 million in frozen USDT, plus at least another $2.76 million in damages and profits it says Tether earned on the reserves backing the blocked funds.

ZachXBT says he fronted $349,700 to infiltrate alleged Chinese launderers tied to Lazarus, Bybit hack

Blockchain investigator ZachXBT said he infiltrated an alleged Chinese organized crime network that laundered more than $1 billion across multiple exploits for North Korea's Lazarus Group.

• Posing as a client, ZachXBT said he funded a new address with 349,700 USDC and conducted transactions with a vendor known as "Jimmy Green," gathering intelligence that helped identify funds linked to the $1.5 billion Bybit hack.
• ZachXBT said his investigation helped identify a cluster of more than $12 million in Bybit exploit funds, with Tether later freezing 442,000 USDT linked to the cluster. He said he has helped facilitate the freezing of $75 million related to North Korean incidents since 2022.

In the next 24 hours

• The Federal Reserve's September meeting minutes are due Wednesday, followed by August consumer credit data.
• ECB Vice-President Boris Vujcic and Executive Board member Piero Cipollone are scheduled to speak Wednesday, with Vujcic making two appearances.
• TOKEN2049 Singapore kicks off Wednesday for its two-day conference.
• Aerodrome Finance (AERO) and Space and Time (SXT) are among the tokens set for unlocks.

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