Entire Zcash Development Team Quits Electric Coin Company After Governance Dispute

CEO Josh Swihart announced on January 7, 2026, that all ECC employees left their positions after what he described as impossible working conditions created by the Bootstrap board.

The mass departure marks one of the most significant governance crises in the cryptocurrency industry and has sent shockwaves through the privacy coin community. The Zcash token dropped approximately 7-8% following the announcement, though the underlying blockchain network continues to operate normally.

The Governance Breakdown

Josh Swihart, who became ECC’s CEO in December 2023, pointed to specific Bootstrap board members as the source of the conflict. He named Zaki Manian, Christina Garman, Alan Fairless, and Michelle Lai as having moved into “clear misalignment with the mission of Zcash.”

According to Swihart’s statement, the Bootstrap board changed employment terms in recent weeks, making it impossible for the team to perform their duties effectively. He characterized the situation as “constructive discharge,” a legal term describing when working conditions become so unbearable that employees are effectively forced to resign.

“This decision is simply about protecting our team’s work from malicious governance actions that have made it impossible to honor ECC’s original mission,” Swihart explained in his public announcement.

Source: @jswihart

Bootstrap is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization created to govern ECC and support the Zcash ecosystem. In 2020, ECC became a wholly owned subsidiary of Bootstrap after shareholders donated their equity to create a governance structure with checks and balances.

Founder Defends Board Members

The dispute revealed sharp divisions within Zcash’s leadership. Zooko Wilcox, who founded Zcash and served as ECC’s CEO for eight years before stepping down in 2023, publicly defended the Bootstrap board members.

“I’ve worked closely with Alan Fairless, Zaki Manian, and Christina Garman for more than 10 years, through many intense and difficult situations, and with Michelle Lai for about 5 years,” Wilcox wrote on X. “Based on my experiences, I believe them all to be people of exceptionally high integrity.”

Wilcox also reassured users that the organizational turmoil would not affect the Zcash network itself. “The Zcash network is open source, permissionless, secure, and private, and nothing that happens in this conflict can change that,” he stated.

Development Fund Controversy

The conflict appears rooted in disagreements about Zcash’s development funding model. The Zcash development fund allocates a portion of block rewards to support ongoing work and was set to expire in late 2025.

Swihart had publicly advocated for ending direct protocol funding in favor of grants and other mechanisms, arguing this would further decentralize the ecosystem. This position put him at odds with board members who favored maintaining the existing structure.

The funding model underwent significant changes in November 2024 with Network Upgrade 6, which ended the “Direct Funding” model that had allocated 20% of block rewards to specific organizations. The new model directs 8% to community grants and 12% to a “Lockbox” where funds accumulate until the community reaches consensus on distribution.

Team Plans New Company

Despite leaving ECC, Swihart emphasized that the departing team remains committed to their original vision. The entire group plans to establish a new company focused on building what Swihart described as “unstoppable private money.”

This language echoes Zcash’s long-standing emphasis on privacy, censorship resistance, and user sovereignty. The team’s departure does not prevent them from continuing to contribute to the open-source Zcash protocol, as no single entity owns or controls the network.

The situation creates uncertainty about ECC’s future operations and the project’s development roadmap. The exodus came just weeks after ECC announced a major internal reorganization on December 1, 2025, which consolidated engineering teams and unified marketing efforts.

Recent Leadership Changes

The mass resignation adds to a series of notable departures from the Zcash ecosystem. Peter Van Valkenburgh, who had served on the Zcash Foundation board since its creation, resigned in January 2025 to avoid conflicts of interest with his new role as Executive Director at Coin Center.

These changes come during a period of strong market performance for Zcash. In November 2025, ZEC surpassed a $10 billion market capitalization, reclaiming a top-20 cryptocurrency ranking. The token reached its highest price of $744 on November 7, 2025, driven by institutional interest before recent volatility.

Market Reaction and Price Impact

Following the resignation announcement, ZEC traded around $456-$479, representing a decline from its November highs. However, the token remains up substantially from earlier in 2025, when it traded below $40.

The price drop reflects investor concerns about governance stability and future development coordination. Market participants are pricing in increased uncertainty about who will maintain and upgrade the core protocol going forward.

Despite the organizational chaos, the Zcash blockchain continues processing transactions normally. User funds remain secure, and the network’s decentralized nature ensures it can operate independently of any single development team or company.

Moving Forward Through Disruption

The Zcash governance crisis demonstrates both the strengths and weaknesses of decentralized cryptocurrency projects. While no single entity can shut down the network, coordination challenges can create uncertainty and complicate development efforts. As both sides regroup and the community processes these changes, the coming months will reveal whether Zcash can maintain its momentum despite internal divisions.