Of course they've had to pay. In the case of the investors, they've had to pay cash up-front to fund the development of Zcash. In the case of other shareholders

Of course they've had to pay. In the case of the investors, they've had to pay cash up-front to fund the development of Zcash. In the case of other shareholders of Zerocoin Electric Coin Company, they've had to pay for, or otherwise legitimately obtained their shareholding -- for example by their labour, in the case of developers who are also shareholders. "Pump and dump" means fraudulently manipulating the price of a stock by making deliberately misleading or inaccurate statements in order to sell it at a premium. That's illegal under securities law. If you invest in something that then increases in value over a long period because people generally think it is valuable, and at some point you sell it, that is not "pump and dump". Declaration of interest: I'm a Zcash developer and I hold some shares in Least Authority, which owns part of Zerocoin Electric Coin Company.