Cryptographers who mass exited Electric Coin Company debut new Zcash wallet
Ex-Electric Coin Company staff who resigned en masse are developing a new Zcash wallet called cashz to compete with Zashi.Summary
Researchers and developers who recently mass-exited the Electric Coin Company (ECC) are building a new Zcash wallet, codenamed cashz, intended to rival the ECC's flagship wallet, Zashi. Ex-CEO Josh Swihart stated that cashz is being developed using the existing Zashi codebase and promised an easy migration path for current Zashi users.
The mass resignation followed a dispute with Bootstrap, the nonprofit board overseeing ECC, primarily concerning the monetization of Zcash protocol elements, including potentially privatizing the Zashi wallet. Swihart argued that the nonprofit foundation model for crypto development is outdated, leading to bureaucratic issues, and that profit incentives are necessary for innovation, contrasting with the nonprofit focus on "rule-lawyering."
The departure caused Zcash's ZEC token to sell off sharply, allowing rival Monero to reclaim the top spot among privacy coins by market capitalization. This event occurs amid renewed general interest in privacy technology, particularly Zcash, which had been a top performer in the latter half of 2025.
(Source：The Block)