Author: Shaurya Malwa
Compiled by Deep潮 TechFlow
Deep潮 Summary: A Solana-based cat meme coin named ZCAT has distributed approximately 2,320 Zcash (around $2.8 million) to holders through a 3% transfer tax on every transaction, involving over 470,000 distributions. Meanwhile, the privacy coin ZEC has surged more than 23-fold this year, briefly surpassing $1,200, drawing attention to this novel model of rewarding meme coin holders with Zcash.
A cat and a Zcash dividend
ZCAT is a cat-themed meme coin operating on Solana, launched by an anonymous developer. Its standout feature isn't the cat theme, but its unique way of distributing funds.
According to data from the project dashboard, ZCAT charges a 3% tax on each transfer, most of which is converted into Zcash (ZEC) and distributed to ZCAT wallets with a holding value of at least $20. To date, approximately 2,320 ZEC have been distributed, valued at around $2.8 million based on Monday morning Asian market prices, with over 470,000 distributions made.
This is more like an experiment in "hold-to-receive-dividends," except the dividend asset is a privacy coin rather than a USD stablecoin.
ZEC rose 23-fold, making the "dividends" worthwhile.
The attention surrounding ZCAT's gameplay is closely tied to ZEC's recent price movement.
Zcash is a long-standing privacy coin whose core feature is concealing the sender, recipient, and amount of transactions. Over the past year, ZEC has surged more than 2,300%, briefly surpassing $1,200 late last Sunday, driven by renewed market demand for privacy-focused crypto assets.
Progress on the institutional side has also boosted sentiment: Grayscale launched a spot Zcash ETF on the NYSE Arca exchange at the end of August, allowing investors to gain indirect exposure to ZEC through a U.S.-listed fund without having to purchase and custody the tokens themselves.
As ZEC rises in value, the "tax" distributed with each ZCAT transaction becomes more valuable on paper, reinforcing the narrative of "holding ZCAT to earn ZEC."
The operating logic of yield-bearing Meme
ZCAT is not an isolated case. Its trading pair with ZEC was launched on StonkFun, a launchpad platform on Solana, which is unique in allowing new tokens to use assets other than SOL or stablecoins as trading pairs.
ZCAT also rose alongside ZEC. On Monday, the token's price was approximately 13 cents, with a market cap of around $124 million and a 24-hour trading volume of approximately $22 million; it briefly reached 19 cents over the weekend, then dropped sharply in early Monday trading.
The appeal of this model lies in “holding tokens generates yield,” but its vulnerability is equally clear: returns come entirely from token trading activity, not from any business or investment-generated income. Once trading enthusiasm fades, the transaction taxes used to fund distributions will dry up, causing payouts to plummet dramatically.
Cat-themed memes go viral collectively
ZCAT's popularity also rode the broader wave of "cat-themed memes," with its underlying logic seeming far removed from fundamentals.
Cash Cat is a recent example of how quickly a meme can become tied to a new crypto narrative. When Robinhood Chain launched in July, Cash Cat surged in popularity, gaining niche attention partly because its name was already associated with Robinhood before the brokerage adopted its current brand.
Traders on Cash Cat turned approximately $800 into over $1 million during its first week of listing, and meme coins quickly became one of the most active uses on Robinhood Chain, which was originally built around tokenized stocks.
This trend is still accelerating. Meme coin apps now account for the majority of activity on Robinhood Chain; the token issuance platform Pons recently generated over 22,000 new tokens in a single day, generating millions of dollars in user fees for the platform.
The sustainability of returns remains uncertain.
Returning to ZCAT itself, its dividend story relies on one premise: trades must continue to occur. The transfer tax comes from every buy and sell transaction, not from any business revenue, meaning that when market attention shifts and trading volume declines, the distribution size will shrink accordingly.
With ZEC surging, this "Zcash dividend" may seem appealing; but when the tide goes out, whether a cat can continue paying holders will ultimately depend on trading volume.