Cat Memecoin ZCAT Pays Holders $2.8M in Zcash as ZEC Tops $1,200 on ETF

A Solana-based cat memecoin has paid holders nearly $3 million worth of Zcash as a rally in both tokens turned an unusual reward mechanism into a substantial payout. Anonymous Cat, or ZCAT, charges a 3% tax on every transfer and converts most of that fee into ZEC, distributed to wallets holding at least $20 worth of the token. About 2,320 ZEC, worth roughly $2.8 million as of Monday morning in Asia, has been paid out across more than 470,000 transactions, according to the project’s dashboard.

ZCAT’s 3% Tax Pays Out in ZEC

Every time ZCAT changes hands, 3% of the transaction is deducted, converted into Zcash, and split among wallets holding at least $20 worth of the token, according to the project’s public dashboard. Because the rewards scale with ZEC’s price rather than a fixed dollar amount, Zcash’s rally has multiplied the payouts without any change to ZCAT’s own trading volume. The mechanism means holders are effectively speculating on two assets at once: ZCAT’s own price and the market value of the Zcash it distributes. ZCAT trades against ZEC directly through StonkFun, a Solana launchpad that lets new tokens pair against assets other than SOL or stablecoins.

Zcash Surges 2,300% to $1,200

ZEC has gained more than 2,300% over the past year and passed $1,200 late Sunday, a level not seen in nearly a decade, driven by renewed institutional interest in privacy-focused cryptocurrencies. Zcash allows users to conceal the sender, receiver and amount of a transaction, making it one of the most direct ways for traders to bet on privacy returning as a dominant theme in crypto. Grayscale listed a spot Zcash ETF on NYSE Arca in late August, converting its existing trust into a fund that lets investors gain exposure without buying or custodying ZEC directly. Analysts have tied the latest leg of the rally to two forces working together:

• Institutional inflows following the ETF’s late-August debut on NYSE Arca
• A short squeeze that liquidated tens of millions of dollars in bearish positions as ZEC broke through the $1,000 level

Cat Coins Ride Crypto’s Fringes

ZCAT itself traded around 13 cents Monday, valuing the token at roughly $124 million with about $22 million in 24-hour volume, after briefly touching 19 cents over the weekend before a sharp early-Monday sell-off. Cat-themed tokens more broadly are drawing outsized attention relative to any underlying fundamentals. Cash Cat, a separate memecoin, gained traction after Robinhood Chain launched in July, becoming a cult favorite partly because the name was once associated with Robinhood before the brokerage adopted its current branding; one trader turned roughly $800 into more than $1 million during the token’s first week. The ZEC rewards ZCAT distributes come entirely from other holders buying, selling and transferring the token, not from any underlying business or investment income, meaning payouts could shrink sharply if trading activity slows.

Zcash Price Chart – Source: Tradingview

Conclusion

ZCAT’s payout is real, but it is also a byproduct of two separate speculative rallies compounding each other rather than a sustainable income stream: Zcash’s 2,300% surge inflates the value of rewards funded solely by other traders’ activity in a memecoin with no revenue of its own. That structure works exactly as designed as long as both ZEC and ZCAT keep attracting buyers, and unwinds just as quickly if either one stops. For holders, the $2.8 million already distributed is less a signal of the model’s durability than a snapshot of how far a privacy-coin rally and a cat-themed memecoin can amplify each other while both are still climbing.