Imagine sitting in a boardroom on the 27th floor overlooking Manhattan, watching the ticker crawl across the bottom of CNBC, and deciding — right there, right then — to sell every single Bitcoin, every Ethereum, every Solana position your publicly traded company owns… and put everything into one single privacy coin most people haven’t thought about seriously since 2018.
That’s exactly what just happened.
Last week, Reliance Global Group — yes, an actual Nasdaq-listed company (RELI) — quietly announced they’ve converted their entire corporate crypto treasury into Zcash (ZEC). Not a rebalance. Not a “significant allocation.” The whole thing.
And honestly? In a market obsessed with Bitcoin maximalism and ETF flows, this might be one of the boldest treasury moves we’ve seen from any public company in years.
From Diversified Portfolio to All-In on Privacy
Let’s rewind a second.
Back in September, Reliance did what every “smart” corporate treasury seemed to be doing: they announced a digital asset strategy built around diversification. Bitcoin as the anchor, Ethereum for smart contracts, Solana for speed, Cardano and XRP sprinkled in for regulatory upside. Textbook stuff. They even made a big Solana purchase in October to show they were serious about spreading risk.
Then something changed.
After what they called a “comprehensive strategic review” led by their Crypto Advisory Board, the conclusion was brutal in its simplicity: in the long run, only one feature actually matters for a corporate treasury in crypto — and that’s financial privacy.
“Our decision to consolidate our digital asset treasury into Zcash reflects a high-conviction belief in ZEC’s long-term potential and its unique position at the convergence of cryptography, compliance, and financial privacy.”
– Moshe Fishman, Reliance Global Group Crypto Advisory Board
Why Zcash Specifically? The Dual-Address Magic
Here’s the part that actually makes sense when you dig into it.
Zcash isn’t just “private Monero.” It’s fundamentally different because of its dual-address model: transparent addresses (t-addrs) that work like Bitcoin, and shielded addresses (z-addrs) that offer full privacy using zero-knowledge proofs.
That distinction is everything for a public company.
- Need to disclose holdings to the SEC? Use transparent addresses — fully auditable.
- Want to protect competitive strategy or shield from front-running? Move to shielded pools.
- Want to prove regulatory compliance without exposing your entire balance sheet? Selective disclosure lets you do exactly that.
It’s the only major cryptocurrency that gives you both worlds without compromise. Bitcoin can’t do that. Ethereum definitely can’t. Even Monero forces full privacy — which regulators hate.
In my view, this flexibility is the sleeper feature that could make Zcash the institutional privacy layer everyone has been waiting for.
The Regulatory Winds Are Shifting — Fast
Timing doesn’t happen in a vacuum.
Just look at what’s happened in the last 90 days:
- The Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act and Genius Act moving through Congress
- Tornado Cash sanctions officially lifted
- OKX relisting Zcash after years of delisting
- Grayscale Zcash Trust seeing record inflows
- Arthur Hayes publicly backing ZEC
Suddenly, privacy isn’t a dirty word in Washington anymore. It’s being reframed as a civil liberty and competitive necessity. And companies like Reliance are reading the room.
Think about it from their perspective: every Bitcoin transaction a public company makes is permanently etched on a public ledger. Competitors, activists, short sellers — anyone can track exactly how much they hold, when they buy, when they move funds. That’s a strategic liability.
Zcash flips that dynamic.
The Performance Doesn’t Hurt Either
Let’s be real — conviction is easier when the chart looks like Zcash’s does right now.
Up over 1,200% in the last 90 days. Trading at levels not seen since the 2017-2018 bull run. Volume surging. Liquidity returning.
And unlike most privacy coins that pump on hype and dump on regulation, Zcash’s rally has been remarkably steady. The shielded pool usage is actually increasing. Developers are shipping. The Electric Coin Company has real funding again.
This isn’t just a momentum trade for Reliance. It’s a structural bet.
What This Means for the Broader Market
Here’s where it gets interesting.
If one Nasdaq company can make this pivot, others are absolutely watching. We’re talking insurance firms, asset managers, even regional banks — anyone who values financial opacity as a core business requirement.
And the precedent matters. Reliance didn’t just buy some Zcash. They made it their only crypto holding. That’s a signal.
We might be witnessing the birth of a new corporate treasury playbook:
- Phase 1 (2021-2024): Bitcoin as digital gold
- Phase 2 (2024-2025): Diversified crypto baskets
- Phase 3 (2025-?): Privacy-first consolidated treasuries
I’ve been saying for years that the winners in the next cycle won’t be the coins with the best marketing — they’ll be the ones that solve real problems for real institutions. Zcash just checked that box in the most dramatic way possible.
The Counter-Arguments (Because They Exist)
Of course, not everyone is cheering.
Critics will say putting all eggs in one basket — especially a privacy coin — is reckless. Liquidity is still thinner than Bitcoin. Regulatory risk hasn’t vanished overnight. The shielded pools, while brilliant, are complex.
Fair points.
But here’s the counter: Reliance isn’t a crypto hedge fund. They’re an insurance tech company. They don’t need 24/7 liquidity for trading. They need a long-term store of value that protects competitive intelligence. For that specific use case, diversification might actually be the riskier choice.
Sometimes the bravest move isn’t spreading your bets. Sometimes it’s having the conviction to go all in on the one thing that actually solves your problem.
Final Thoughts
We’re at an inflection point.
The crypto narrative has spent years chasing the “next Bitcoin.” Maybe we’ve been looking in the wrong direction. Maybe the next institutional trillion-dollar use case isn’t another transparent settlement layer.
Maybe it’s the one coin that finally lets companies operate with the same financial privacy they’ve enjoyed in the legacy system — but on a global, permissionless, cryptographically provable basis.
Reliance Global just voted with their entire treasury.
And in a market full of noise, that kind of conviction tends to echo.
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