Grayscale Investments is launching its ninth investment product this year, to come out in the third quarter. It will be called “Zencash Investment Trust” and will be focused on the cryptocurrency Zencash (ZEN).
The announcement was made by Michael Sonnenshein, managing director at Grayscale, at Yahoo Finance’s All Market Summit: Crypto event in San Francisco.
Zencash is similar to Zcash (a privacy-based cryptocurrency), and Grayscale already operates a Zcash Investment Trust. Grayscale’s products are available to accredited investors for the first year. After a year, they are offered to the general public.
Sonnenshein cited privacy concerns and the Equifax scandal in arguing that privacy-focused products will be in high demand.
While bitcoin, the most dominant cryptocurrency, is traditionally thought of as a private payment system and store of value, and has been famously used for “discreet” payments, Zencash is touted as a digital asset that has more privacy-focused technology.
Unlike other privacy-based cryptos, Zencash, Sonnenshein said, can be used not just for money but private messaging, file storage, and internet access.
The investment company plans on releasing an investment thesis in the third quarter further detailing why it’s taking the steps to start an investment product around this cryptocurrency.
