This cat memecoin has paid holders $2.8 million in Zcash as ZEC tops $1,200

A cat memecoin on Solana has paid its 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 whenever the token is transferred. Most of that money is converted into zcash ($ZEC) and distributed to wallets holding at least $20 worth of ZCAT, according to the project’s dashboard.

Because $ZEC prices have recently surged, rewards paid to CAT holders have gone through the roof. About 2,320 $ZEC, worth roughly $2.8 million as of Monday morning in Asia, has been distributed across more than 470,000 payouts, the data show.

Note that the $ZEC rewards come from other people buying, selling, and transferring ZCAT, not from a business or investment that produces income. So if trading dries up, the payouts will be vastly reduced.

$ZEC has gained more than 2,300% over the past year and passed $1,200 late Sunday amid renewed demand for privacy-focused cryptocurrencies. Zcash allows users to hide details, including the sender, receiver, and amount of a transaction — making it the most direct way to bet on the privacy sector returning as a key narrative among crypto traders.