Zcash rebounds after ECC says exit was governance shift, not protocol failure

Zcash (ZEC) rebounded on January 8 after an initial sharp sell-off sparked concerns about its core development team, Beincrypto reported. ZEC price fell more than 20% at one point, briefly dropping below $390 before recovering above $430, and trading volume spiked—suggesting forced selling driven by headline risk rather than a change in protocol fundamentals.

The sell-off followed an earlier statement from Electric Coin Company (ECC) CEO Josh Swihart that the entire ECC team had left after what he described as "constructive discharge" due to governance disputes with the Bootstrap nonprofit board. A later clarification said the team remains committed to Zcash, has reorganized under a new startup structure, and that the move was driven by structural constraints of nonprofit governance; the clarification stressed the protocol remains unaffected and fully operational and that no consensus rules, cryptographic systems, or network infrastructure were changed.

The dispute appears to be about governance and organizational control rather than technical development: ECC staff exited the nonprofit structure but retained the same team, mission, and roadmap under a new corporate entity.

Key Topics

Crypto, Zcash, Electric Coin Company, Josh Swihart, Bootstrap Nonprofit Board, Governance Dispute