The entire team at Electric Coin Company (ECC), the core developer of Zcash (ZEC), has left after claiming constructive dismissal from Bootstrap, the non-profit that runs the company.
The crisis comes at a pivotal time for ZEC, a privacy-focused cryptocurrency that has faced market headwinds this year. So far in 2026, altcoins have fallen more than 18%.
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Departure of ECC team due to governance conflict
For context, Bootstrap is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2020 to manage ECC and support the Zcash ecosystem. However, recent developments have highlighted growing governance challenges.
In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), Josh Swihart, now former CEO of ECC, announced his departure from the team. Swihart argued that most of the Bootstrap board, which includes Zaki Manian, Christina Garman, Alan Fairless and Michelle Lai (collectively known as ZCAM), is inconsistent with Zcash’s original mission.
“Over the past few weeks, it has become clear that most Bootstrap board members (a 501(c)(3) non-profit established to support Zcash by managing the Electric Coin Company), particularly Zaki Manian, Christina Garman, Alan Fairless and Michelle Lai (ZCAM), have moved in directions that are clearly at odds with Zcash’s mission. Yesterday, the entire ECC team left after being constructively fired* by ZCAM,” he wrote.
Constructive dismissal occurs when an employer creates working conditions so objectively intolerable that a reasonable employee would be forced to resign. Under U.S. labor law, such resignations “may be determined to be non-voluntary.”
“The terms and conditions of our employment have changed to make it impossible for us to perform our jobs effectively and diligently,” Swihart added.
Nonetheless, the former ECC team plans to form a new company with a focus on “building unstoppable personal finance,” Swihart said. He also asserted that the Zcash protocol itself is not affected as the dispute focuses on governance rather than technical aspects.
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“This decision is simply intended to protect the work of our team from abusive governance practices that make it impossible for ECC to carry out its original mission,” Swihart said.
Zcash founder and former ECC CEO Zooko Wilcox also commented on the situation. He emphasized that the governance dispute does not affect the Zcash network. He reiterated that the protocol remains open source, secure and does not require permission.
Wilcox also expressed personal confidence in the veracity of the Bootstrap board members mentioned in Swihart’s statement, but did not take a position on the dispute.
“None of that has anything to do with me or Shielded Labs, and it’s not my place to opine on that,” he said. “I have worked closely with Alan Fairless, Zaki Manian and Christina Garman for over ten years, through many intense and difficult situations, and with Michelle Lai for about five years. Based on my experience, I believe they are all people of exceptionally high integrity.”
The dispute follows a series of leadership changes across the ecosystem. Swihart became CEO in December 2023 following the resignation of founder Zooko Wilcox. A year ago, Peter Van Valkenburgh resigned from the board of the Zcash Foundation.
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Additionally, in the past month, the team has implemented a number of organizational changes to reduce internal friction and position ECC “for continued success in 2026 and beyond.”
ZEC Market Performance Amid Governance Chaos
A governance crisis is unfolding as ZEC faces wider market challenges. In late 2025, altcoins recorded notable rallies, standing out amidst the broader market downturn.
As interest and demand for privacy-focused assets grows, the value of ZEC has increased. According to CryptoRank data, ZEC surged 816.7% in 2025, marking its strongest annual performance since 2017.
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However, in 2026, the coin came under downward pressure. ZEC is down about 18% since the beginning of the year. Additionally, BeInCrypto Markets data shows that the token has decreased by around 16% in the last 24 hours. At press time, it was trading at $409.79.
In other words, the latest decline is not isolated. The broader cryptocurrency market has also experienced a correction of nearly 3% over the same period. Nonetheless, the departure of the development team may have weighed on short-term market sentiment surrounding ZEC.
Nonetheless, one market observer explained that recent governance issues have not affected the Zcash protocol, privacy features, or network operations. This frames the departure of the ECC team as a principled decision rather than an abandonment.
“The original ECC team left rather than compromise their mission to build unstoppable private money….Zcash was designed to outlast companies, boards of directors, and individuals. This moment proves it. The chain continues to run. The crypto continues to function. The vision remains intact. Short-term disruption is the price of long-term reliability. And reliability is bullish,” the market watcher wrote.
As the situation continues to evolve, market participants are closely watching how governance clarity and development continuity evolves across the Zcash ecosystem.