Cypherpunk Owns $500M of Zcash and 18% of Its Hashrate | CIO Will McEvoy

About this episode

In a world of powerful AI, how private is a public blockchain? Will McEvoy, CIO of Cypherpunk Technologies and principal at Winklevoss Capital, joins David to explore why Bitcoin holders may be rethinking transparency and why Zcash is attracting renewed attention. They break down Cypherpunk's ambitious plan to accumulate 5% of the Zcash supply, the surprising economics behind its mining business, and the larger opportunity in digital privacy. --- 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium --- BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🔓NEAR | TRADE CONFIDENTIALLY, GET 20% BACK https://bankless.cc/near2026 🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS https://thedefireport.io/bankless 👑BANKLESS CONTENT MCP https://www.bankless.com/premium --- TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Why Zcash Is Back in the Spotlight 3:24 Why Did Zcash Take So Long to Break Out? 5:09 Who Is Buying Zcash? 8:03 Can AI Identify Bitcoin Whales? 12:33 Inside Cypherpunk Technologies 16:39 Cypherpunk's Treasury and Valuation 17:57 Why Zcash Mining Is So Profitable 27:38 The Gap Between Zcash's Price and Hashrate 31:21 Mining Zcash and Keeping It 33:01 Why Buy CYPH Instead of Zcash? 38:05 What Is Cypherpunk Technologies Actually Worth? 41:44 Zcash's Builders and the Orchard Bug 46:37 Will McAvoy's Investing Background 49:23 Could Zcash Reach $10,000? 51:22 Will Governments Accept Financial Privacy? --- RESOURCES Will McEvoy https://x.com/will__mcevoy --- Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures