Key Insights:
- ZCash price faces volatility amid governance concerns, which initially wiped out around $1.6 billion in market value.
- Former Electric Coin Company developers announced plans to launch a new Zcash wallet, cashZ, in the coming weeks.
- Santiment data shows Zcash’s development activity has fallen to its lowest level since 2021. This coincided with a 40% ZEC price correction.
Zcash price is seeing major volatility and has bounced more than 10% from the intraday lows at $380. This comes as the developer team announced plans to launch a new crypto wallet, ‘cashZ’. Market analysts stay cautious amid a shift in the development activity on the platform.
ZCash Price Shows Recovery After Major Volatility
Over the last three-four trading sessions, ZCash (ZEC) privacy coin has been through major volatility. The price crashed to $380 all the way from $525. However, it has once again recovered above the crucial support at $400.
The ZCash ecosystem has faced a high-profile exit of developers earlier this week. With this, the entire core development team resigned following the governance team.
The team said it plans to spin out a new company to continue developing privacy technology independently. This announcement triggered a sharp 20% decline in ZEC, erasing approximately $1.6 billion in market capitalization.
However, the ZCash price has bounced back since then and is currently trading at $435. This is because the team that exited announced the launch of a new crypto wallet, ‘cashZ’. Speaking on the development on Jan. 8, former ECC CEO Josh Swihart said:
The wallet, codenamed cashZ, will launch within the next few weeks, according to Swihart. Users of the existing Zashi wallet will be able to migrate seamlessly to the new platform, though additional details were not disclosed.
The announcement came just hours after the team departed from Electric Coin Company (ECC). Swihart reassured the Zcash community. He stated that the full team behind Zashi remains fully committed to end-to-end Zcash development.
In a statement published on the project’s website, Swihart outlined additional reasons behind the decision to form a new company. He said the team believes Zcash is fundamentally rooted in cypherpunk principles and requires an organization structured around that ethos.
He further pointed to the need for stronger alignment. He argues that privacy in cryptocurrency should be treated as a default feature.
ZCash Price And Development Activity
In addition to the team exit and governance issues, the ZCash price can likely see further volatility. This is because the development activity on this privacy blockchain has been on a sharp decline.
In its latest report, blockchain analytics firm Santiment reported a shift in the fundamentals of Zcash in 2025.
Santiment reported that the decade‑old privacy‑focused cryptocurrency increased its market capitalization sharply. It surged about 15 times between September 22 and November 16, 2025.
However, the analytics firm noted that Zcash’s development activity has since fallen to its lowest level since November 2021. This slowdown has coincided with a significant price correction, with ZEC down approximately 40% over the past two months.
Santiment suggested that the recent decline in Zcash’s development activity could weigh on its competitiveness.
Monero (XMR) is drawing increased attention from investors. It is emerging as the leading privacy‑focused cryptocurrency. Zcash faces internal disruption and market uncertainty.
Bhushan is a FinTech enthusiast and holds a good flair for understanding financial markets. His interest in economics and finance draws his attention towards the new emerging Blockchain Technology and Cryptocurrency markets. He is continuously in a learning process and keeps himself motivated by sharing his acquired knowledge. In his free time, he reads thriller fiction novels and sometimes explores his culinary skills.
