Zcash Dev Team Quits After Governance Dispute, ZEC Drops 10%

2 mins mins

In Brief

Entire ECC team quits over conflict with Zcash’s governing nonprofit, Bootstrap.
ZEC price falls over 13% amid rising concerns about leadership and project direction.
Network remains functional, but long-term development faces critical uncertainty.

The entire Electric Coin Company team resigned this week following governance disputes with its overseeing nonprofit, Bootstrap. Leadership changes and disagreements over mission alignment triggered the mass exit.

CEO Josh Swihart and his team cited major alterations to their roles that made continued operations impossible. The changes reportedly disrupted workflow and undermined the team’s ability to fulfill core responsibilities.

Over the past few weeks, it's become clear that the majority of Bootstrap board members (a 501(c)(3) nonprofit created to support Zcash by governing the Electric Coin Company), specifically Zaki Manian, Christina Garman, Alan Fairless, and Michelle Lai (ZCAM), have moved into…
— Josh Swihart 🛡 (@jswihart) January 7, 2026

ECC developers have confirmed plans to form a new company to continue Zcash-related development independently. The move reflects a clear break from Bootstrap, which governs ECC as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

The Zcash protocol remains operational despite the internal split. However, the departure creates immediate uncertainty about future upgrades and maintenance of the privacy-focused blockchain.

Market Reacts to Uncertainty as ZEC Sells Off

ZEC experienced sharp price losses as investors reacted to the leadership crisis. Traders are assessing governance risk amid growing concerns over the project’s long-term direction.

As of writing, Zcash is trading at $427.41, marking a -3.59% loss in the past hour. The 24-hour decline stands at -13.15%, while weekly losses reached -17.27%.

Zcash 24hr screenshot | Source: CoinMarketCap

Despite this, the network continues processing transactions without disruption. Still, the absence of the core development team raises long-term stability concerns.

Observers note that disputes of this nature often result in hard forks or new development groups. Stakeholders are now watching for signs of protocol division or project reorganisation.

In recent months, Zcash has shown a strong rebound, briefly crossing a $10 billion market cap. The current sell-off reverses much of that momentum and highlights increased risk perception.

Future developments will depend on community coordination and the replacement of technical leadership. Market sentiment will likely remain cautious until a new structure is confirmed.

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