Zcash developer Electric Coin Company loses entire team amid dispute

The entire team at the Electric Coin Company (ECC), the primary developer of the privacy-focused cryptocurrency Zcash, has departed the organization following an internal governance dispute, according to former ECC chief executive Josh Swihart.

In a public statement, Swihart said the decision came after actions by the board of the Bootstrap, a nonprofit entity that supports and oversees parts of the Zcash ecosystem. 

He alleged that most board members acted in ways that conflicted with Zcash’s founding mission of building strong, censorship-resistant financial privacy.

“In short, the terms of our employment were altered in such a way that it became impossible for us to perform our duties effectively and in good faith,” Swihart said. He added that management decisions undermined the team’s ability to continue its work in alignment with ECC’s original values and long-term goals.

Despite the mass departure, Swihart emphasized that the Zcash protocol itself will not be affected and will continue operating as normal. Zcash is an open-source blockchain, and its core network functions independently of any single development organization. 

Other contributors and ecosystem participants are expected to continue maintaining and improving the protocol.

The departing developers plan to form a new company, according to Swihart, and intend to remain committed to Zcash’s foundational vision. 

He said the team’s focus remains on creating what he described as “unstoppable private money,” signaling that they may continue contributing to privacy-preserving technologies, potentially including Zcash-related work, from outside ECC.

“This decision was made solely to protect our team’s work from malicious actions by the management,” Swihart explained, adding that the circumstances left no viable path forward within the existing organizational structure.

The departure highlights ongoing governance tensions within some crypto ecosystems, particularly around funding structures, nonprofit oversight, and mission alignment. 

While Zcash’s technology remains unaffected in the near term, the exit of its primary development team raises questions about future coordination, leadership, and the long-term stewardship of one of the industry’s most prominent privacy-focused blockchains.