Cypherpunk Technologies (CYPH) Soars After Zcash Pivot: What Investors Need to Know on November 14, 2025

Updated: November 14, 2025
Ticker: Nasdaq: CYPH

Key Takeaways

CYPH stock is trading 70–90% higher intraday around the $3.00–$3.30 range on Friday, November 14, with volume above 200 million shares — dozens of times its recent average. ^[1]
The company has rebranded from Leap Therapeutics to Cypherpunk Technologies and now combines oncology drug development with a Zcash‑focused digital asset treasury strategy. ^[2]
Cypherpunk has deployed $50 million to purchase ~203,775 ZEC, roughly 1.25% of the circulating Zcash supply, using proceeds from a $58.88 million private placement led by Winklevoss Capital. ^[3]
With ZEC trading around $540–$550 after a 6–7% gain today, Cypherpunk’s initial Zcash stake is already worth well over its original cost and could grow further if the company executes on its goal to reach 5% of ZEC’s total supply. ^[4]
The stock’s extreme volatility cuts both ways: an AI‑generated AInvest note early Friday highlighted a 34.6% plunge at one point, underlining the risks of a dual biotech–crypto model, heavy dilution capacity via a $200 million equity facility, and unresolved regulatory questions. ^[5]

CYPH Stock Price Today: A Wild Debut for a Crypto–Biotech Hybrid

Cypherpunk Technologies Inc. (CYPH) is having one of the most turbulent first weeks any newly rebranded small‑cap has seen in 2025.

By early afternoon on November 14, multiple real‑time feeds showed CYPH trading a little above $3 per share, up roughly 70–85% on the day from Thursday’s close of about $1.76. ^[6]

Benzinga’s intraday movers list flagged Cypherpunk as one of the most active health‑care names, showing the stock up 72.4% to $3.03 with a market cap near $100 million. ^[7]
StockTwits data points to trading volume above 200 million shares today versus an average volume around 7 million, a 25x+ spike. The same feed shows a 52‑week high of $3.58 and a low of $0.22, underscoring how tiny this name was before the pivot. ^[8]

At the same time, the stock has whipsawed dramatically:

An AInvest article timestamped 1:46 a.m. ET reported that Cypherpunk’s shares had plunged 34.63% intraday, calling out a “record low” earlier in the session and framing the move as a sharp reversal after Thursday’s rebrand rally. ^[9]
Trading blogs like StocksToTrade later highlighted the opposite move, noting that by around 10:04 a.m. ET on Friday the stock was up 34.66%, driven by “significant positive market sentiment” and abnormally high volume. ^[10]

In short: CYPH is behaving more like a meme‑crypto than a traditional biotech, with intraday swings exceeding 100 percentage points as traders react to every headline about its Zcash bet.

From Leap Therapeutics to Cypherpunk Technologies

Until this week, the company now known as Cypherpunk Technologies was Leap Therapeutics, Inc. (LPTX), a small‑cap biopharmaceutical firm focused on targeted and immuno‑oncology therapies. Its leading asset, sirexatamab (formerly DKN‑01), is a monoclonal antibody aimed at the DKK1 protein in cancers such as colorectal, esophagogastric and gynecologic tumors. ^[11]

On November 12, 2025, the company formally announced that it would:

Change its name to Cypherpunk Technologies Inc.
Adopt a digital asset treasury strategy focused on Zcash (ZEC)
Switch its Nasdaq ticker from LPTX to CYPH, effective at the market open on November 13. ^[12]

Management says the new name reflects a broader mission around privacy, self‑sovereignty and digital assets, not just oncology:

Press materials describe Cypherpunk as aiming to “build long‑term shareholder value by acquiring ZEC, participating in the development of Zcash, and continuing the development of sirexatamab and FL‑501 to treat patients with cancer.” ^[13]

In other words, Cypherpunk isn’t abandoning drug development — but it now wants to be both a cancer‑drug developer and a crypto treasury vehicle.

Inside the $50 Million Zcash Bet

The catalyst for today’s share‑price fireworks is the company’s sudden emergence as one of the largest corporate holders of Zcash.

The numbers behind the ZEC position

According to the rebranding announcement and related filings, Cypherpunk has:

Closed a $58.88 million private placement in October 2025, led by Winklevoss Capital, the family office of Gemini founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. ^[14]
Deployed roughly $50 million of those proceeds to buy 203,775.27 ZEC at an average price of about $245.37 per coin. ^[15]

A fresh analysis from Bitget and AInvest on November 14 estimates that this stash represents about 1.25% of all Zcash in circulation — a meaningful slice of the total supply. ^[16]

With ZEC trading around $548–$565 today, after a 6–7% 24‑hour jump that defied a broader crypto sell‑off, that stake is now worth roughly $110–115 million at current prices — more than double what Cypherpunk initially spent. ^[17]

Aiming for 5% of the Zcash supply

Bitget’s market note goes further, stating that Cypherpunk’s longer‑term goal is to accumulate at least 5% of ZEC’s total supply, or over 800,000 tokens, using its new capital base and a $200 million at‑the‑market (ATM) equity facility to scale the treasury. ^[18]

At today’s prices, 800,000 ZEC would be worth well over $400 million, although there is no guarantee the company will reach that target or that ZEC’s price will stay elevated.

Custody and partners

While full details of custody arrangements aren’t yet in SEC filings, a social post from Gemini this week highlighted that the exchange is “proud to secure [Cypherpunk’s] treasury,” signalling that the firm is using an established crypto custodian for its Zcash holdings. ^[19]

Crypto‑media outlets from CoinDesk to CoinCentral and Yahoo Finance have framed this as one of the most aggressive corporate bets on a privacy coin to date — drawing parallels to MicroStrategy’s long‑running Bitcoin strategy but with a very different underlying asset. ^[20]

Zcash’s Rally Supercharges the Story

Cypherpunk’s rebrand isn’t happening in a vacuum. It’s landing right in the middle of a Zcash renaissance.

Bitget’s November 14 report notes that ZEC has surged 6.68% in the last 24 hours to about $548.91, is up roughly 37% over the past month, and has gained 800–1,100% over the past year, depending on the data source. ^[21]
A separate piece from crypto outlet U.Today via TradingView highlights Zcash as one of the few coins holding a positive 4% daily gain while much of the crypto market “bleeds.” ^[22]
A Yahoo‑syndicated explainer under the headline “Zcash is Not Dumping, What Does This Mean?” explicitly connects the recent rally to the Winklevoss‑backed Cypherpunk treasury strategy. ^[23]

Put simply: CYPH is hitching its fate to one of 2025’s hottest (and most controversial) privacy coins. As long as ZEC keeps climbing, the company’s balance sheet looks stronger and the equity story more compelling; if ZEC reverses, the leverage works in the other direction.

The Biotech Business: Still There, But Shrinking

Amid the crypto excitement, it’s easy to forget that Cypherpunk remains, at its core, a biotech company with real clinical data.

Q3 2025 financials

In a separate third‑quarter 2025 earnings release, the company reported: ^[24]

Net loss of $3.3 million for Q3 2025, dramatically improved from $18.2 million in the same quarter of 2024.
Research and development expenses of $1.2 million, down from $14.9 million a year earlier, primarily due to completed clinical trials and headcount reductions.
General and administrative expenses of $1.9 million, down from $2.9 million year‑over‑year.
Cash and cash equivalents of $9.7 million as of September 30, 2025 — before adding the $58.88 million from the October private placement.

Those figures paint a picture of a company that sharply cut R&D spending and streamlined operations even before the crypto pivot. The Zcash treasury, if it retains much of its current value, could give Cypherpunk significantly more financial flexibility than typical micro‑cap biotechs.

Sirexatamab data: promising but not definitive

On the oncology side, the Q3 update and associated investor materials highlight new data for sirexatamab in colorectal cancer:

In a subgroup of patients with high levels of the DKK1 biomarker, the drug improved overall response rates and progression‑free survival compared with standard therapy, with hazard ratios suggesting a meaningful benefit. ^[25]
However, across the full intent‑to‑treat population, the improvement in progression‑free survival was not statistically significant, something AInvest and other commentators have flagged as a potential hurdle for regulatory approval. ^[26]

The company says it is engaging with U.S. and European regulators to define a registrational pathway and expects to update investors on next steps for sirexatamab in Q1 2026. ^[27]

In short, the biotech pipeline is not dead, but it doesn’t yet carry the kind of late‑stage, de‑risked data that would normally justify a massive valuation on its own.

Why the Market Is So Split on CYPH

Analysts, bloggers and retail traders are deeply divided on what Cypherpunk actually is — and how to value it.

Bullish view: a leveraged play on Zcash + optionality on oncology

Pro‑Cypherpunk arguments, seen across outlets like Bitget, CoinCentral, Stocktwits News and Yahoo Finance, generally focus on a few themes: ^[28]

Scarcity bet: If ZEC continues to appreciate and Zcash cements itself as the leading privacy coin, controlling 1–5% of its supply could be extremely valuable.
Mission‑driven narrative: Cypherpunk positions itself as a champion of financial privacy and individual liberty, a story that resonates strongly with parts of the crypto community. ^[29]
Biotech upside remains: Any positive regulatory outcome or partnership for sirexatamab or FL‑501 would be incremental upside on top of the digital asset treasury.

A Stocktwits brief today framed the move bluntly: “Cypherpunk stock jumps after Zcash defies crypto market sell‑off,” suggesting traders now see CYPH as a proxy for ZEC in equity markets. ^[30]

Bearish view: extreme volatility, dilution, and regulatory overhang

The more cautious side, including the AInvest plunge note and a growing number of biotech/crypto risk explainers, highlights several red flags: ^[31]

Share‑price whiplash: The fact that CYPH could be down 30%+ in one window and up 70%+ later the same day illustrates how sentiment‑driven and thinly anchored the stock is right now. ^[32]
$200 million ATM and warrant overhang: With an at‑the‑market equity facility that dwarfs its current sub‑$150 million market cap, Cypherpunk has substantial capacity to issue more shares, potentially diluting existing holders if used aggressively to grow its ZEC holdings. ^[33]
Biotech and crypto regulation: The company must navigate drug‑approval hurdles and the tightening regulatory environment around privacy coins, AML rules and securities treatment of digital assets. OneSafe’s same‑day blog on biotech crypto treasuries, which uses Cypherpunk as a case study, stresses how complex this dual‑regulation landscape can be. ^[34]

The net result: CYPH is likely to remain extremely volatile, swinging not only with trial updates and earnings, but also with ZEC price moves, crypto policy headlines and broader risk‑on/risk‑off flows.

Key Dates and Catalysts to Watch

Investors and traders following CYPH should be aware of several near‑term milestones:

November 23, 2025 – Zcash Network Upgrade 6.1: ZEC developers plan a major network upgrade later this month, which Bitget and AInvest note as a potential catalyst for further interest in privacy coins. ^[35]
December 15, 2025 – Special Shareholder Meeting: Cypherpunk has called a special meeting to vote on corporate governance changes and other matters outlined in its definitive proxy statement. AInvest’s risk note suggests these proposals could affect Nasdaq compliance and capital‑raising flexibility. ^[36]
Q1 2026 – Sirexatamab regulatory update: Management has guided to an update on the registrational path for its lead oncology asset in the first quarter. Any signs of a clear approval pathway would materially change how biotech‑focused investors model the company. ^[37]

Additionally, future ZEC purchases — if Cypherpunk does move toward that 5% supply target — will likely be disclosed via press releases or SEC filings and could trigger further volatility in both ZEC and CYPH.

Is Cypherpunk Technologies a Crypto Stock, a Biotech Stock, or Both?

Right now, Cypherpunk Technologies sits in a category of one:

It has a genuine clinical‑stage oncology pipeline with peer‑reviewed data and an active regulatory strategy. ^[38]
It also has a large, highly concentrated position in a single privacy coin and a stated ambition to become one of that coin’s largest holders. ^[39]

For investors, that makes CYPH:

Deeply speculative, given its dependence on ZEC’s price and future regulation;
Highly levered to sentiment, across both biotech and crypto;
Potentially asymmetric, if ZEC continues its strong run and the oncology programs progress.

Anyone considering the stock will need to decide whether they are comfortable analyzing both drug‑development risk and crypto‑asset risk — and whether they believe Zcash will remain a winner in the privacy‑coin space.

Bottom Line (and a Quick Disclaimer)

On November 14, 2025, Cypherpunk Technologies is:

A newly rebranded micro‑cap whose share price has nearly doubled intraday,
A Winklevoss‑backed Zcash treasury vehicle with over 1% of ZEC in its coffers,
And a leaner oncology developer trying to convert promising subgroup data into a viable registrational path.

That unusual mix is exactly what’s making CYPH one of today’s most talked‑about tickers across both Wall Street and Crypto Twitter — and what ensures its story will remain volatile, controversial and closely watched in the weeks ahead. ^[40]

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security or digital asset. Always do your own research and consider consulting a licensed financial professional before making investment decisions.

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