Zcash Developers Launch New Wallet After Leaving Electric Coin Company

TLDR

• Former Electric Coin Company employees are launching a new Zcash wallet called “cashZ” within weeks, using the existing Zashi codebase
• The team left ECC on Wednesday due to disagreements over nonprofit governance rules and the need to move faster
• Former ECC CEO Josh Swihart says the team wants to return to cypherpunk principles and scale Zcash to billions of users
• The Zcash protocol remains unchanged and the same development team continues working on the network
• ZEC token dropped over 21% after the split but recovered slightly to $430, though it remains down 86% from its 2016 all-time high

Former Electric Coin Company employees announced plans to launch a new Zcash wallet called “cashZ” just hours after their departure from the organization. The team left ECC on Wednesday following disputes over nonprofit governance structures.

Josh Swihart, who previously served as CEO of Electric Coin Company, revealed the new wallet project on Thursday. The wallet will be built using the same codebase as Zashi, the existing Zcash wallet developed by the team at ECC.

The new wallet is expected to launch within a few weeks. Users currently on Zashi will be able to migrate to cashZ without complications.

More than 3,800 people have already signed up for the new wallet through the cashZ website. The team emphasized they are not creating a new cryptocurrency but focusing exclusively on Zcash development.

The departure from ECC stemmed from disagreements about organizational structure and governance. Bootstrap, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit overseeing ECC’s work, clashed with leadership over control and restructuring plans for the Zashi wallet.

Swihart described the situation as a “constructive discharge” of the team. Bootstrap maintained that nonprofit legal and fiduciary constraints limited what actions they could approve.

Why the Team Left

The former ECC team cited three main reasons for starting a new company. First, they want to return to Zcash’s cypherpunk roots and build an organization around those principles.

Second, Swihart argued that fighting for privacy rights requires an organization that can move quickly. Nonprofits focus on following rules while startups prioritize innovation and speed.

Third, the team believes Zcash has grown beyond being a small project. To compete with Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, Zcash needs an organizational structure designed for rapid scaling.

The team stressed that privacy in cryptocurrency should be normal, just like privacy with physical cash. They argue this requires courage and an organization free from bureaucratic constraints.

Swihart pointed to what he called “endless drama” caused by entanglements between nonprofit foundations and tech startups in crypto. He sees the new company structure as a way to avoid these issues.

Market Response

The Zcash token experienced immediate price volatility following the announcement. ZEC dropped more than 21% and fell below $400 on Thursday.

The token saw a minor recovery during early Friday trading. ZEC moved back to around $430 as markets digested the news.

Despite the recent bounce, ZEC remains down 86% from its 2016 all-time high of $3,191. The token is also down 38% from its 2025 peak of nearly $700.

The entire team that built Zashi remains focused on Zcash development. Swihart reassured users that the Zcash protocol itself is completely unaffected by the organizational changes.

The same engineers who worked at Electric Coin Company will continue building on the Zcash network. They will operate under the new corporate structure instead of the nonprofit framework.

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