Zcash Governance Crisis Forces Complete Exit of Electric Coin Company Staff

A management conflict within Zcash escalated into a full strike by the developer. However, the protocol itself remains unaffected.

Zcash’s core development team has resigned en masse following a growing governance dispute with the nonprofit that oversees the Electric Coin Company (ECC), the main developer of the privacy-focused blockchain.

In a statement shared on

“Constructive discharge”

Zweihart accused a majority of the board, including Zaki Manian, Christina Garman, Alan Fairless and Michelle Lai (ZCAM), of a clear misalignment with Zcash’s original mission. He argued that recent board actions made it impossible for the team to carry out their responsibilities “effectively and with integrity.”

Although the dispute marks a dramatic rift at an organizational level, Swihart stated that the Zcash protocol itself remains unaffected.

He also said that the developers are in the process of establishing a new company and plan to continue the same work. The episode has drawn attention to the concept of ‘constructive discharge’. This term is used in U.S. labor law to describe situations in which employees are effectively forced to resign due to “hostile or intolerable” working conditions.

ZEC trajectory

The layoffs of core developers come at a time when ZEC has already experienced a dramatic pricing cycle. After trading sideways for much of 2025, the privacy coin staged a powerful rally in the second half of the year, breaking above $200 in October. During a peak in late 2025, the price eventually rose above $600 for the first time in almost seven years. This subsequently helped it climb into the top 20 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.

That explosive move was followed by a pullback as broader crypto markets cooled. Over the past seven days, ZEC has fallen nearly 17% amid executive turmoil and a broader market correction. The price is currently hovering above $400.

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