Zcash Crypto Slides Over 15% as Developers Split and Board Rift Deepens

Zcash price fell by more than 15% as a governance dispute triggered a major staffing break at Electric Coin Company (ECC). The move came after ECC CEO Josh Swihart said that the firm’s full Zcash development team exited following disagreements with Bootstrap’s board.

Traders tracked the selloff as uncertainty rose around who would lead core engineering work going forward. Even so, Zcash’s open-source design kept the network running normally during the organizational dispute.

Zcash Crypto Developers Leave ECC After Governance Clash

ECC CEO Swihart revealed that the entire ECC Zcash development team left the organization after a conflict tied to Bootstrap. It is a nonprofit set up to support Zcash through governance. He said changes to employment terms left the team unable to carry out work “effectively and with integrity.”

The exit marked one of the sharpest staffing shifts in Zcash’s recent history, given ECC’s long role in maintaining the privacy-focused protocol. After the news spread, community discussions focused on how development priorities, funding coordination, and decision-making will operate with fewer engineers inside ECC.

Swihart described the situation as “constructive discharge”. It is a legal term used when working conditions change so sharply that employees cannot reasonably continue. He said the dispute reflected what he called a “misalignment” between several Bootstrap board members and Zcash’s mission.

In his statement, he named Zaki Manian, Christina Garman, Alan Fairless, and Michelle Lai, a group often referenced by the shorthand “ZCAM.”

Swihart also said the departing developers plan to form a new company. He said the group intends to keep working on its stated goal of building privacy-focused digital money, while separating engineering work from governance actions it opposed.

He framed the decision as an organizational issue, rather than a technical break in Zcash’s code or security model.

Zcash Crypto Protocol Stays Operational as Open-Source Network

Swihart and former ECC chief executive Zooko Wilcox both stated that the Zcash protocol remains operational because it operates as an open-source, permissionless system. They pointed to the public codebase and the ability for independent contributors to run nodes, maintain forks, and submit changes without relying on a single entity.

Wilcox also pushed back on personal attacks tied to the dispute. He said he viewed the Bootstrap board members named by Swihart as people of high integrity based on years of collaboration.

His comments aimed to reassure users that Zcash’s security and privacy features remain available regardless of the organizational conflict.

ZEC Price Drops as Traders Track Support

During the news cycle, Zcash price traded lower and failed to reclaim the $500 area after earlier weakness. Market trackers cited a drop of more than 15% over 24 hours.

Another analyst noted ZEC is in “free fall” on the intraday charts, with price sliding to around $405 after a steep breakdown. The analyst pointed to the 15-minute move from the $520–$530 zone toward the $380 as evidence that sellers still control momentum.

If ZEC price fails to hold the $405–$390 support band, the chart suggests the drop could extend toward the $380 area. Any bounce attempt would still face resistance near $420–$440, with heavier supply closer to $480.

In recent crypto news, Canary Funds CEO Steve McClurg had predicted that Zcash could fall further after the latest market drawdown. His view aligns with earlier comments in late November 2025, when he stated that ZEC appeared to be a pump-and-dump setup and warned of a potential rug pull.