Shares of Leap Therapeutics (Nasdaq: LPTX) experienced a dramatic surge, rising over 170% in early trading Wednesday, following the company's announcement of a shift towards a cryptocurrency-focused treasury strategy. The company is rebranding itself as Cypherpunk Technologies (Nasdaq: CYPH) and adopting a digital asset treasury strategy centered around Zcash (ZEC), the native token of the Zcash protocol.
The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech firm has utilized $50 million from a previously secured $58.88 million private placement, led by Winklevoss Capital, to acquire 203,775 Zcash (ZEC) tokens. The average purchase price was $245.37 per ZEC token. This move signals a significant departure from Leap Therapeutics' original focus on developing cancer therapies. Trading under the new name and ticker symbol CYPH is expected to begin on Thursday, November 13. Until then, the stock will continue to trade under the LPTX ticker.
Winklevoss Capital, founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, is a venture capital firm known for its early investments in Bitcoin and the co-founding of the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange. Tyler Winklevoss expressed his enthusiasm for the new direction on X, stating, "As our lives have moved online, privacy's become a rare, vanishing commodity… That's why we founded Cypherpunk — a company dedicated to privacy and self-sovereignty". Winklevoss Capital was the only institutional investor in the private placement, contributing a majority of the total raised.
Zcash (ZEC), launched in 2016 as a Bitcoin fork, is a privacy-focused blockchain that employs zero-knowledge proofs (zk-SNARKs). This technology enables transaction verification without revealing the sender, receiver, or amount, offering a higher level of privacy compared to traditional cryptocurrencies.
Cypherpunk Technologies' President and CEO, Douglas E. Onsi, stated that the company's digital assets will support its biotech business and generate long-term shareholder value through active participation in Zcash.
The company is also expanding its leadership team. Khing Oei, CEO of a European Bitcoin treasury company, has been appointed as the Chairman of the Board, while Will McEvoy, a Principal at Winklevoss Capital, will serve as Cypherpunk's Chief Investment Officer. McEvoy stated that Cypherpunk is taking "a different path by building a syndicate of value-aligned investors who believe in the long-term importance of Zcash and privacy for the United States and the world,". Christopher Mirabelli will step down as Chairman but remain on the Board.
ZEC has experienced significant price volatility recently. After rebounding from around $48 in early September, the token surged to over $640 within weeks, regaining a position among the top 20 cryptocurrencies. BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes has predicted that ZEC could reach $1,000 in 2025. However, some analysts suggest a potential price correction due to the token being overbought, with its relative strength index (RSI) reaching 94.24. Zcash has declined 6.7% in the last 24 hours, now trading at $468.
Cypherpunk also reported its third-quarter 2025 financial results today. The company's Q3 net loss fell to $3.3 million on lower expenses, and cash was $9.7 million before a $58.9 million private placement.
While Cypherpunk is embracing a crypto treasury strategy, it plans to continue developing its existing cancer treatment programs, sirexatamab and FL-501.
