Zcash コアチームの全員が退職！取締役会は悪意のあるガバナンスで告発され、ZECは20%下落して新低を記録

Zcash Executive Committee (ECC) Chief Executive Officer Josh Swihart announced on Wednesday that the entire team has collectively resigned, breaking with Bootstrap and accusing it of “malicious governance.” Former CEO Zooko Wilcox sided with the board instead, sparking a community split. ZEC price collapsed nearly 20% to $395, down more than half from its November high last year.

Employment Terms Tampered, Triggering Mass Exodus

In a statement posted on the X platform, Josh Swihart pointed to the core issue: “Yesterday, the entire ECC team resigned. In short, our employment terms were changed in a way that made it impossible for us to effectively and honestly fulfill our responsibilities.” This statement suggests that the Bootstrap board may have unilaterally modified the working conditions or authority of the ECC team, interfering with technical development and protocol maintenance work.

Swihart explicitly named multiple members of the Bootstrap board—including Zaki Manian, Christina Garman, Alan Fairless, and Michelle Lai (collectively known as ZCAM)—as having “clear inconsistencies” with Zcash’s core mission. This public call-out is extremely rare in crypto project governance conflicts, indicating that the contradictions between the two sides have become irreconcilable.

The collective resignation of the entire ECC team was not a hasty decision but rather a deliberate collective action. Swihart emphasized that this decision was purely to protect the team’s work from “malicious governance.” The so-called “malicious governance” may involve the board attempting to change Zcash’s technical roadmap, funding allocation methods, or development priorities, which fundamentally conflict with the ECC team’s technical vision.

More notably, Swihart announced that the team is starting a new company: “We remain the same team with the same mission: building an unstoppable privacy currency.” This statement implies that the ECC team may create a fork project based on Zcash’s open-source code or develop an entirely new privacy coin protocol, which would pose direct competition to Zcash’s future development.

Former CEO Zooko Wilcox’s Betrayal?

The most dramatic twist in this governance storm comes from the stance of Zcash founder and former CEO Zooko Wilcox. Wilcox handed over the CEO position to Swihart in 2023, and the outside world originally expected him to support his successor, but Wilcox instead publicly endorsed the Bootstrap board.

Wilcox posted on X: “I have worked with Alan Fairless, Zaki Manian, and Christina Garman for over 10 years, and collaborated with Michelle Lai for about 5 years, experiencing many intense and difficult situations. Based on my experience, I believe they are all people of the highest character.” This statement not only vouches for the board members’ integrity but also indirectly questions Swihart’s allegations of “malicious governance.”

Wilcox simultaneously emphasized that the Zcash network will continue to operate normally: “The Zcash network is open-source, permissionless, secure, and private, and nothing that happens in this conflict can change that. You can continue using Zcash with confidence.” This “technology-neutral” stance attempts to separate governance conflicts from protocol operations, but also exposes the structural dilemmas of open-source projects.

Public opposition between predecessor and successor CEOs is extremely rare in crypto history. Wilcox’s statement has sparked heated discussion in the community, with some supporters believing he betrayed his hand-picked successor, while others argue that as Zcash’s spiritual leader he has a duty to maintain community stability. This split is not just a personnel conflict but reflects deeper disagreements on technical roadmaps and governance philosophy for privacy coins.

ZEC Price Collapse and Market Confidence Crisis

ZEC fell nearly 20% in the past 24 hours, dipping to $395 at one point, but subsequently recovered slightly. This decline is extremely rare among mainstream privacy coins, showing that market concerns about governance conflicts have translated into actual selling pressure. More seriously, ZEC has fallen more than half from its November 8 high of $723 last year, wiping out all gains from the late-year privacy coin rally.

The price surge in November last year was partly due to endorsements from prominent industry figures like Arthur Hayes and optimistic expectations for privacy assets following the U.S. election. However, this internal split has completely undermined market confidence. Investors worry that Zcash, having lost its core development team, will struggle to maintain technological innovation, while if the ECC team launches a competing project, it will further dilute Zcash’s market share.

A deeper issue is that this conflict exposes the fragility of open-source project governance. Although Wilcox emphasizes that the protocol will continue to operate, how can Zcash address future technological challenges and regulatory pressures without long-term support from its core development team? Who will be responsible for protocol upgrades and security maintenance? These unresolved mysteries make ZEC’s price outlook highly uncertain.

Three Major Shockwaves From the Price Collapse

Short-term selling pressure: Governance uncertainty triggers panic selling, with 24-hour decline nearly 20% to $395

Long-term confidence: Down more than half from last November’s $723 high, showing market’s pessimistic outlook for Zcash’s future

Competitive disadvantage: ECC team may launch competing projects, diluting Zcash’s technological advantages and market share

Open-Source Nature as a Double-Edged Sword

Swihart attempted to reassure the market, stating that the Zcash protocol itself will not be affected by the team’s departure and will continue to operate normally. Because Zcash’s code is public and open-source, with no single company or entity owning the protocol, anyone can run nodes, maintain forks, or submit code changes, meaning the network’s operation depends on continuous participation from miners, validators, and users.

However, this open-source nature is precisely a double-edged sword for Zcash. On one hand, decentralization ensures the protocol’s resilience—even if ECC members all leave, the Zcash network can continue operating. On the other hand, when core contributors fundamentally disagree with the governance structure, the project may face the existential risk of a fatal split.