Europe's first exchange-traded product (ETP) based on Zcash (ZEC) has been launched.

Cointelegraph, a blockchain news outlet, reported on Sept. 22 that European asset manager 21Shares listed a spot Zcash ETP on Euronext Paris and Amsterdam.

The product is designed to let investors gain exposure to the price of ZEC through brokerage accounts without holding Zcash directly. 21Shares also listed a spot ETP tracking ETHFI, the governance and utility token of the decentralised finance (DeFi) protocol Ethereum, on the same day. The annual management fee for each product is 2.5 percent.

The listing expands the product line into the European market after Grayscale launched a spot Zcash exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States first. The Grayscale spot Zcash ETF trades on NYSE Arca under the ticker "ZCSH". As Zcash-linked investment products continue to emerge in the United States and Europe, institutional investors now have broader ways to access privacy coins.

Behind the move is Zcash's recent upward trend. Zcash recently topped $1,500, according to CoinMarketCap, and has risen about 1,100 percent over the past year. The surge has renewed attention on Zcash as an alternative asset to bitcoin.

Zack Pandl (잭 팬들), head of research at Grayscale, said Zcash could benefit from a "late-mover advantage". He said the structure could help it partly overcome bitcoin's strong network effects, and explained that established alternative assets such as Litecoin (LTC) have struggled to secure such an advantage.

Zcash is also gaining share in the mining industry. Fortitude Digital Mining said it mined about 28 percent of total ZEC output in the first half of 2026. The company cited the proof-of-work mechanism, a capped supply and privacy features as reasons for focusing on Zcash.

Costs remain a significant burden. The 2.5 percent annual fee for the Zcash ETP and the ETHFI ETP from 21Shares is higher than that of many bitcoin and ether investment products in Europe. That makes the key question how much niche demand the two products can absorb.

The latest listing by 21Shares shows that the range of regulated investment products is expanding beyond major cryptocurrencies to include privacy coins and DeFi tokens. With Zcash price strength, the launch of a U.S. ETF and growing participation from miners combining, attention is on how quickly Zcash can expand its foothold within the regulated financial market.