Cypherpunk expands its holdings with new $5M investment in Zcash company, ZODL, alongside key investors including a16z, Winklevoss Capital, Coinbase, Paradigm, Chapter One, David Friedberg, Balaji Srinivasan, and others

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Cypherpunk Technologies Inc., (Nasdaq: CYPH) today announced the company has invested $5M into Zcash Open Development Lab (ZODL) marking its first technology investment outside of ZEC. ZODL was founded and is led by former Electric Coin Company (ECC) CEO Josh Swihart.

At ECC, Josh and his team, who have joined him at ZODL, launched the top Zcash wallet, Zashi, now rebranded to Zodl. Zashi was arguably the single biggest factor responsible for putting Zcash back on the map last year. In particular, its simple UX allowed for the Orchard shielded pool to grow from ~1M ZEC to ~4M ZEC during the span of 2025.

ZODL, which now houses the Zashi wallet technology and related intellectual property, aims to make Zcash easier to use with continued development of the wallet, as well as supporting Zcash at the protocol level.

The new investment strongly aligns with Cypherpunk’s mission of advancing technologies that guarantee privacy for all humans on the internet and gives its shareholders exposure to a private company building critical privacy infrastructure on the frontier.

“True to their name, Cypherpunk is backing the builders who will put shielded ZEC in the hands of billions. We’re grateful for their support and proud to partner with them in bringing private digital money to the global mainstream.” – Josh Swihart, CEO of ZODL

The investment in ZODL is highly synergistic with Cypherpunk’s ZEC treasury.

“As ZODL makes Zcash easier to use, we expect adoption of the protocol to grow alongside demand for ZEC.” – Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss

Swihart joined Cypherpunk in December as a strategic advisor. Cypherpunk’s current total ZEC holdings stand at 294,743.10, at an average price of $335.89, bringing the company’s total network ownership to ~1.78%.

“ZODL and Cypherpunk are the two most important companies in privacy. We’re excited to embark together on this mission of accelerating technology that defends self-sovereignty and secures human freedom.” – Will McEvoy, Chief Investment Officer of Cypherpunk

About Cypherpunk

Cypherpunk Technologies Inc. is a privacy technology company implementing a digital asset treasury strategy anchored by Zcash and, through its subsidiary Leap Therapeutics, Inc., is developing novel therapies for patients with cancer. The Company is aiming to build long-term shareholder value by acquiring ZEC, participating in the development of privacy technologies and Zcash, and continuing the development of sirexatamab and FL-501 to treat patients with cancer. For more information about the Company, visit our websites at http://www.cypherpunk.com and http://www.leaptx.com or view our public filings with the SEC that are available via EDGAR at http://www.sec.gov or via https://investors.leaptx.com/.

About Winklevoss Capital

Winklevoss Capital is an investment firm founded in 2012 by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss that invests in frontier technologies.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of words such as “anticipate,” “expect,” “plan,” “could,” “may,” “will,” “believe,” “estimate,” “forecast,” “goal,” “project,” and other words of similar meaning. Forward-looking statements address various matters including statements relating to the investment in Zcash Open Development Lab (“ZODL”), ZEC, or digital assets held or to be held by the Company, the expected future market, price and liquidity of ZEC or other digital assets the Company acquires, the macro and political conditions surrounding Zcash or digital assets, the Company’s plan for value creation and strategic advantages, market size and growth opportunities, regulatory conditions, competitive position and the interest of other corporations in similar business strategies, technological and market trends, and future financial condition and performance. Risks and uncertainties of the digital asset treasury strategy include, among others: (a) the risk that the Company will fail to realize the anticipated benefits of the investment in ZODL and the digital asset treasury strategy; (b) changes in business, market, financial, political and regulatory conditions; (c) risks relating to the Company’s operations and business, including the highly volatile nature of the price of cryptocurrencies, including ZEC; (d) the risk that the price of the Company’s Common Stock may be highly correlated to the price of ZEC or other digital assets that it holds; (e) risks related to increased competition in the industries in which the Company does and will operate; (f) risks relating to significant legal, commercial, regulatory and technical uncertainty regarding digital assets generally; and (g) risks relating to the treatment of crypto assets for U.S. and foreign tax purposes. New risks and uncertainties may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible to predict all risks and uncertainties. No representations or warranties (expressed or implied) are made about the accuracy of any such forward-looking statements. The Company may not actually achieve the forecasts disclosed in such forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of material risks and uncertainties including but not limited to those set forth under the caption “Risk Factors” in the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC, or as may be included in other reports or information we file with the SEC, as well as discussions of potential risks, uncertainties, and other important factors in its subsequent filings with the SEC. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it was made. Neither the Company, nor any of its affiliates, advisors or representatives, undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company’s views as of any date subsequent to the date hereof.

CONTACT:

Douglas E. Onsi
President & Chief Executive Officer
Cypherpunk Technologies Inc.
617-714-0360
ir@cypherpunk.com 

For Media:
Jacqueline Ortiz Ramsay
It Factor Strategies
954-294-3249
jacqueline@itfactorstrategies.com 

For Investors:
Matthew DeYoung
Investor Relations
Argot Partners
212-600-1902
leap@argotpartners.com

NYSE issues a pre-market daily advisory direct from the trading floor.

NEW YORK, March 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) provides a daily pre-market update directly from the NYSE Trading Floor. Access today’s NYSE Pre-market update for market insights before trading begins. 

Kristen Scholer delivers the pre-market update on March 9th

• The stock market is set to open the week lower as ICE Brent Crude surpasses $100 a barrel amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
• Today on NYSE Live, ICE’s Head of Mortgage and Housing Market Research Andy Walden will break down the March 2026 ICE Mortgage Monitor Report
• Also, on NYSE Live, Martha Stewart stopped by the Inside the ICE House podcast to share her insights on making it big amid International Women’s Day.
• America250 will ring the Opening Bell to celebrate its partnership with NYSE and more than two centuries of business innovation from Lower Manhattan.

Opening Bell
NYSE and America250 celebrates America’s upcoming 250^th Anniversary

Closing Bell
Paris Hilton and 11:11 Media proudly stand with Gloria Steinem in celebration of International Women’s Day

For market insights, IPO activity, and today’s opening bell, download the NYSE TV App: TV.NYSE.com

Robinhood Markets CEO at the NYSE on March 6th

GUANGZHOU, China, March 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The 57th China International Furniture Fair (CIFF) Guangzhou returns on March 18–21 & 28–31, 2026, themed “CONNECT•CREATE.“

Experience the full interactive Multichannel News Release here: https://www.multivu.com/ciff/9386651-en-connect-create-ciff-guangzhou-2026-countdown-10-days

With three exhibitions—Home Furniture, Office & Commercial Space, and CIFM/interzum guangzhou—it creates an ecosystem merging production, design, culture, and commerce to envision future living, working, and manufacturing amid shifting global supply chains and consumer expectations.

HOME FURNITURE

Design Trend & Global Market Opportunities

The Home Furniture Exhibition reinforces CIFF’s role as a design-driven, internationally oriented sourcing platform. Highlights include the 40,000 sqm Contemporary Design Fair with over 60 brands, 20+ studios, and 40 international firms. The 130,000 sqm Upholstered Furniture sector features lifestyle innovations, including “SOFA PLUS” in Area B. Hall 5.2 hosts the Smart Sleep Ecosystem with intelligent mattresses and sleep systems. The 30,000 sqm International Pavilion and 120,000 sqm Dining & Living sector, with 800+ enterprises, showcase global offerings for modern living and cross-border e-commerce.

HOMEDECOR & HOMETEXTILES

Aesthetics, Culture & New Living Concepts

Nearly 700 brands showcase aesthetics, craftsmanship, and lifestyle innovation across 60,000 sqm in Area D. Key themes include wellbeing-focused Silver Life sector, the growing Pet Life sector, and the East Design Show, which supports next-gen soft-furnishings design through creativity and commercial strategy.

OUTDOOR FURNITURE

A Complete Vision of Outdoor Living

Spanning 50,000 sqm, the Outdoor Furniture, Sunshade & Leisure section unites around 400 brands, showcasing material innovations, craftsmanship, and global leisure trends. Curated displays and forums reinforce CIFF Guangzhou’s role as a key reference for outdoor design.

OFFICE & COMMERCIAL SPACE

Sustainable Workplaces & Intelligent Environments

Spread across more than 240,000 sqm, this exhibition presents a forward-looking vision of sustainable, user-centered and technologically advanced workspaces and commercial interiors.

Area A showcases the full office-environment supply chain; Area D hosts the world’s largest Office Seating platform, emphasizing innovation in ergonomics and materials; Area B features the Public Commercial Space showcase, presenting solutions for education, hospitality, transportation and other multifunctional public environments.

CIFM / INTERZUM GUANGZHOU

Technology & Materials Driving the Future of Manufacturing

As CIFF’s industrial powerhouse, CIFM/interzum guangzhou (170,000 sqm) highlights the technologies defining next-generation manufacturing. Area B focuses on intelligent and flexible production machinery; Area C presents advanced materials for CMF innovation and sustainability; while hardware technologies in Area B illustrate new possibilities for integrated living.

Be part of the industry’s most influential meeting point. CIFF Guangzhou awaits you at the Canton Fair Complex!

News Summary:

• Reduces standard testing times by 80%.¹
• Delivers an industry-leading 25,000 data points per second, detecting transient material behaviors previously invisible to measurement. ²
• Operates with fewer calibrations and superior atmosphere and temperature control. ³

SAN ANTONIO, Texas and MILFORD, Mass., March 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Pittcon 2026 Conference + Exposition — Waters Corporation (NYSE: WAT) today launched the ARES-G3™ Rheometer, part of the TA Instruments product line. This next-generation rheometer delivers industry-leading speed paired with best-in-class data to accelerate materials research and product development. Capturing up to 25,000 data points per second (10x more than its predecessor) and cutting standard test times by up to 80% through fully integrated Fast Frequency Chirps, the ARES-G3 Rheometer addresses pressing industry limitations. As scientists and materials innovators pursue a deeper understanding of complex material behavior, this product unlocks new capabilities and outcomes across polymer and composites development, liquid and semi-liquid coatings, and fundamental research.

Capturing up to 25,000 data points per second (10x more than its predecessor) and cutting standard test times by up to 80% through fully integrated Fast Frequency Chirps, the Waters TA Instruments ARES-G3 Rheometer addresses pressing industry limitations.

“Rheology labs are under enormous pressure to deliver better data, faster, to unlock breakthroughs and support business decisions,” said Dan Rush, Senior Vice President, Waters Materials Sciences, Waters Corporation. “We’re pleased to deliver a cutting-edge instrument that can provide unique data in record time, providing novel insights and empowering our customers to meet these increasing demands.”

The ARES-G3 Rheometer enables shortened experiment times, increased lab throughput, and previously unobtainable measurements of fast-changing samples in a single test. Because it fully integrates a Fast Frequency Chirps solution into its enhanced TRIOS™ Software, the ARES-G3 Rheometer eliminates the need for multiple software licenses and training in advanced programming packages to capture and process data through rapid frequency sweeps. Routine quality control tests and data generation can also be completed up to 80% faster than before with some tests reduced from six hours to one; this translates to accelerated workflows that save teams hundreds of workdays per year under typical conditions, without sacrificing data quality. The ARES-G3 Rheometer can also perform many tests without requiring user calibrations, reducing margin for human error and increasing confidence in measurements.

“For years, rheologists have struggled to capture in-depth data on materials that are actively curing or degrading. The kinetics are so fast that conventional rheometers miss the critical information,” said Chris Macosko, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota. “Integrating Fast Frequency Chirps and precise temperature control means we can now generate time-temperature-dependent data in one-fifth of the usual time. The new ARES-G3 Rheometer delivers the accurate and consistent data that we need to succeed.”

The ARES-G3 Rheometer builds on the flagship legacy of its predecessor, improving at-instrument control with a new touchscreen, enhancing data capture with hardware and software updates, and preserving its core proprietary, fully integrated dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) capabilities and purpose-built hardware for both stress measurement and strain control. Retaining the best-in-class oven of the ARES-G2 Rheometer, this next-generation rheometer delivers leading low-oxygen atmosphere control and temperature uniformity, further simplifying the process of simulating real‑world processing conditions, and enabling scientists to explore new rheological methods and gain a deeper understanding of structure-property relationships.

All existing ARES-G2 Rheometer methods and fixtures remain fully compatible with the ARES-G3 Rheometer. The Waters TA Instruments ARES‑G3 Rheometer is available for order today.

Additional Resources:

• Product Page

Waters, ARES, TRIOS, and TA Instruments are trademarks of Waters Corporation or its affiliates. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.

About: Waters Corporation (NYSE: WAT) is a global leader in life sciences and diagnostics, dedicated to accelerating the benefits of pioneering science through analytical technologies, informatics, and service. With a focus on regulated, high-volume testing environments, our innovative portfolio harnesses deep scientific expertise across chemistry, physics, and biology. We collaborate with customers around the world to advance the release of effective, high-quality medicines, ensure the safety of food and water, and drive better patient outcomes by detecting diseases earlier, managing routine infections, and combating antibiotic resistance. Through a shared culture of relentless innovation, our passionate team of ~16,000 colleagues turn scientific challenges into breakthroughs that improve lives worldwide. For more information, please visit www.waters.com/about.

References:
¹ When using Fast Frequency Chirps compared to standard master curve and frequency sweep test methods.
² When compared to the ARES-G2 Rheometer.
³ When compared to conventional, combined-motor-transducer (CMT) rheometers and oven accessories.

Contact:
Molly Gluck
Head of External Communications
Waters Corporation
+1.508.498.9732
molly_gluck@waters.com

Global leader evolves brand, redefining GRC for agentic risk management.

LAS VEGAS, March 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — AuditBoard, the leading AI-powered GRC platform empowering enterprises to transform risk into opportunity, today announced it has rebranded as Optro. This new identity reflects the value Optro provides to teams: a single, coherent view across audit, risk, infosec, and compliance, while staying true to the company’s foundational vision of providing innovative solutions built by practitioners, for practitioners. The announcement took place at The Institute of Internal Auditors’ Great Audit Minds conference in Las Vegas, NV.

Optro is built for the future of GRC: moving beyond reactive risk management toward proactive risk foresight enabled by agentic AI, and orchestrated by practitioners. Optro empowers teams to leverage best-in-class enterprise AI for GRC to transform risk into opportunity: continuously, accountably, and securely. 

“Today, AuditBoard becomes Optro,” said Raul Villar Jr., CEO, Optro. “This evolution reflects more than a new name. It represents the work we’ve done with our customers and partners to create an enterprise-grade, agentic system of action for modern risk practitioners. As we start this next chapter as Optro, our DNA and commitment to our amazing customer community remain the same.”

Further accelerating its commitment to providing innovative solutions for risk teams, Optro recently announced its acquisition of FairNow, a purpose-built AI Governance solution, enhancing Optro’s industry-leading capabilities with intelligent, automated, and step-by-step AI compliance guidance. The company has also made a string of strategic executive appointments over the past year, including Chief Executive Officer Raul Villar Jr., Chief Financial Officer Hugo Doetsch, Chief Growth Officer Jim Sperduto, and Chief Human Resources Officer Paaras Parker, all of whom are uniquely qualified to support Optro’s next phase of growth.

“For the past decade, we have been synonymous with helping our customers see risk before it happens. As the industry enters the age of AI, where risk runs at machine speed, our mission has expanded,” said April Crichlow, Chief Marketing Officer at Optro. “Today, we introduce Optro, a brand that captures our commitment to the future of GRC. This evolution reflects our mission to help customers spot risk and turn it into opportunity with unprecedented pace and precision.”

Optro has consistently been recognized for its industry-leading GRC platform and rapid growth. Most recently, the company was named to G2’s 2026 Best Software Awards lists for Best Governance, Risk, and Compliance Software and Best Software for Enterprise Businesses. Optro was also named to the Deloitte Technology Fast 500™ for the seventh consecutive year, named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) Tools, Assurance Leaders, and was named the “Overall Risk Management Solution Provider of the Year” in the 2025 Cybersecurity Breakthrough Awards. 

About Optro 
Optro (formerly AuditBoard) helps enterprises transform risk into opportunity, redefining GRC through an agentic system of action. More than 50% of the Fortune 500 trust Optro to elevate audit, risk, and compliance in addressing a new era of risk. Optro is top-rated by customers on G2 and was named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) Tools, Assurance Leaders. To learn more, visit: optro.ai.

Contact:
Laura Groshans
press@optro.ai