Zcash core development team ECC announces departure to establish a new company to independently develop privacy coin protocols

【Blockchain Rhythm】Zcash privacy coin ecosystem stirs up a wave. On January 8th, ECC (Electric Coin Company) CEO Josh Swihart publicly announced that the ECC team has collectively left the original organizational structure and plans to establish an independent new company to continue development. What is the reason behind this? The nonprofit organization Bootstrap, responsible for governing ECC and supporting Zcash, has “significantly and continuously deviated” from Zcash’s core mission.

The point of disagreement is clear. In recent weeks, the majority of Bootstrap’s board members—including Zaki Manian, Christina Garman, Alan Fairless, and Michelle Lai of ZCAM—have had serious misalignments with Zcash’s original intent in decision-making. Josh bluntly stated that the ECC team faced a situation of so-called “de facto dismissal”: that is, without directly firing employees, unilateral modifications to employment terms and working conditions were made, preventing the team from continuing work while maintaining professional integrity and technical completeness.

In this situation, all members of ECC decided to resign. However, it should be clarified that this is not a technical split or protocol layer conflict. The Zcash protocol itself remains completely unaffected. The core purpose of the ECC team’s new move is to protect years of work and prevent it from being eroded by malicious governance.

Josh stated that ECC will establish a new company with the original team and the same mission to continue building an “unstoppable privacy currency.” In simple terms, the technical development of privacy coins continues, only the organizational form has changed.