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A memecoin on Solana has quietly become one of the most effective distribution channels for Zcash in the entire crypto ecosystem. ZCAT, short for Anonymous Cat, has paid out approximately 5,963 ZEC tokens to holders, a sum worth roughly $8 million at prevailing market prices as of September 16.
The mechanism is simple: every ZCAT transfer or trade gets hit with a 3% tax. Those proceeds are automatically converted into ZEC and airdropped to eligible holders. No staking, no claims process, no hoops. Just hold at least $20 worth of ZCAT and the Zcash shows up in your wallet.
How $8 million in ZEC got distributed in three weeks
ZCAT launched in late August on StonkFun, a Solana-based trading platform that pairs tokens against ZEC rather than the usual SOL or USDC.
By September 7, the project had already distributed over 2,320 ZEC across roughly 470,000 individual payouts, valued at approximately $2.8 million. The pace accelerated from there. Total distributions blew past $5 million by September 9-10, then cleared the $8 million mark by September 16.
The velocity of those payouts maps directly to two converging forces: ZCAT’s own trading volume generating the 3% tax revenue, and ZEC’s price doing something it hadn’t done in years. Zcash climbed above $1,200 in early September, representing a gain of more than 2,300% year-over-year.
At its peak, ZCAT itself reached a market cap of roughly $170 million, attracting tens of thousands of holders drawn by what amounts to a dividend-like payout structure for a memecoin. The token has since experienced the kind of valuation swings that anyone familiar with memecoins would expect.
The Grayscale ETF factor
ZCAT didn’t launch in a vacuum. Grayscale rolled out a ZEC spot ETF, trading under the ticker ZCSH on NYSE Arca, in late August. ZEC’s price rally from sub-$50 territory to four figures coincided with both the ETF launch and ZCAT’s introduction on Solana.
ZEC has also seen meaningful bridging activity onto the Solana network through protocols like OmniBridge and NEAR Intents, expanding its DeFi footprint beyond its native chain. The liquidity and trading volume of ZEC-paired assets on Solana decentralized exchanges have added another dimension to the privacy coin’s market presence.
The sustainability question
ZCAT’s reward model is, by design, entirely self-referential. There’s no external revenue source, no treasury funding the distributions, no venture capital backstop. Every ZEC payout comes from the 3% tax on ZCAT trading activity. When people trade, holders get paid. When they stop trading, the music stops.
Unlike most memecoins where the only exit strategy is selling to someone willing to pay more, ZCAT holders receive actual value in the form of ZEC. The 3% tax also creates friction for traders, which could dampen the very volume the system depends on as initial excitement fades.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
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