ZEC Price Drops Over 15% Following Resignation of Zcash Core Development Team

Summary: The price of Zcash (ZEC) has seen a significant drop of more than 15% after the entire Zcash core development team at Electric Coin Company (ECC) resigned due to governance conflicts. Former ECC CEO Josh Swihart detailed the situation, claiming that disagreements within the Bootstrap board pressured the team to leave. The sudden resignation has created a wave of fear and uncertainty in the market, leading to a drop in ZEC's value.

Key Takeaways

The entire Zcash core development team resigned due to conflicts in governance at Electric Coin Company (ECC).
Former CEO Josh Swihart indicated that the board's decisions clashed with Zcash's original goals.
This resignation has sparked fear in the market, contributing to a significant drop in ZEC's price.
Despite claims of insider trading, data suggests that the decline in value was likely linked to one large investor instead.

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Resignation of the Zcash Core Development Team

In a recent update, Josh Swihart, the former CEO of the ECC, announced the surprising resignation of the entire Zcash core development team. This decision came in response to escalating governance conflicts. According to Swihart, tensions had been rising over the previous weeks, as a majority of board members at Bootstrap—a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting Zcash—diverged from the project’s original mission.

Swihart specifically named several individuals, including Alan Fairless, Christina Garman, Zaki Manian, and Michelle Lai (collectively referred to as ZCAM), who he believed no longer shared the project’s vision. He pointed out that the actions taken by the Bootstrap board effectively forced the ECC’s staff to resign under constructive dismissal.

Swihart elaborated that the board’s alterations compromised the ECC team’s ability to work “effectively and with integrity.” While he did not provide specifics about these changes, he indicated they hindered ECC's capacity to carry out its initial objectives. Consequently, the ECC team decided to resign in unison rather than continue under these new conditions. Swihart also mentioned plans to establish a new company that would consist of the same engineers and contributors previously involved with Zcash at ECC.

Fear and Uncertainty Leading to ZEC's Price Drop

The announcement of the team’s resignation triggered a wave of fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD), significantly affecting ZEC’s market price. Some critics claimed that insiders sold off large amounts of ZEC prior to the resignations.

However, StarPlatinum, an ambassador for the prediction market Kalshi, countered these allegations using on-chain data. They highlighted that on January 2, a total of 202,076 ZEC—representing 1.2% of Zcash’s circulating supply—was unshielded from Zcash’s Orchard pool to a new transparent address. The next day, 74,002 ZEC from this wallet was transferred to Binance. Notably, these transactions took place several days before the formal resignations of ECC’s team.

StarPlatinum further pointed out that since these large transfers, there have been no unusual activities on the blockchain, with no single transaction exceeding 10,000 ZEC. Based on available data, it seems that the sell-off was orchestrated by a single anonymous whale rather than a coordinated effort by insiders.

Significant Price Decline in ZEC

Although Swihart's announcement came yesterday, the sharp decline in ZEC’s price began today, fueled by the spread of rumors regarding a rug pull. ZEC—which had been among the top-performing tokens of 2025—experienced a rapid fall earlier today, just hours after the announcement. After trading near $500 on the previous day, the cryptocurrency's price fell to a multi-week low of $382, marking a nearly 48% decline from its peak of $736 in November 2025.

Zcash (ZEC) weekly price chart | CoinMarketCap

This sudden downturn has noticeably impacted traders’ portfolios. According to blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain, two large wallets—identified as 0x6ef9 and 0x089f—opened long positions totaling 27,985 ZEC, worth approximately $11.1 million, just the day before the price crash.

As ZEC fell to $396, both positions faced significant unrealized losses exceeding $2.2 million. Despite a slight rebound, ZEC remains down 15.84% over the past day and 23.5% over the past week.

Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. The opinions expressed in this article may reflect the author's personal views and do not represent The Crypto Basic. Readers should conduct thorough research before making any investment decisions. The Crypto Basic is not liable for any financial losses.