The privacy-focused cryptocurrency Zcash saw its tokenfall nearly 14% in 24 hours after Electric Coin Company, one of its maindevelopment firms, said its entire team had left the project. ECC framed the move not as a normal restructuring butas a forced departure, claiming that governance changes at the nonprofit thatoversees it made ongoing work impossible.ECC Accuses Board of ‘Malicious’ Governance MovesECC chief executive Josh Swihart said staff were“constructively discharged,” arguing that their employment terms changed somuch that they could no longer perform their roles “effectively and withintegrity,” Coindesk reported.Zcash's entire core dev team just resigned.The $ZEC token is down 20% on the news.Is this the end of the privacy meta? pic.twitter.com/ky6wyUy8vg— Lark Davis (@LarkDavis) January 8, 2026Swihart said a majority of board members at Bootstrap,naming Zaki Manian, Christina Garman, Alan Fairless and Michelle Lai, referredto collectively as ZCAM, had moved into “clear misalignment” with what hedescribed as Zcash’s mission.He added that ECC viewed recent decisions as“malicious governance actions” that blocked the company from carrying out itsmandate under the current structure.According to Swihart, the conflict escalated to thepoint where the team no longer believed it could maintain what it saw as theproject’s principles while operating under Bootstrap’s oversight.You may also like: How High Will XRP Price Go In 2026? XRP Just Crushed Bitcoin and Ethereum Returns, Gains 25%He stressed that the Zcash protocol itself remainstechnically unaffected by the personnel shakeup, with the network continuing tofunction despite the loss of a key development group.Following the departure, the former ECC team isforming a new company, which Swihart says will continue to focus on Zcash’sfounding idea of “building unstoppable private money.”Bootstrap Cites Nonprofit Law and Fiduciary DutyBootstrap, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit that providesgovernance oversight for ECC, cast the situation very differently in astatement following Swihart’s posts. The organization described the dispute asa governance and legal matter tied to its status as a public-benefit nonprofitunder U.S. law.It said the board had explored outside investment andalternative structures involving Zashi, a Zcash wallet project, but stressedthat any deal had to comply with nonprofit rules and protect mission-ownedassets from private capture.For Zcash holders, the immediate impact is clear inthe token’s price reaction, but the long-term effect will depend on how quicklythe ecosystem reorganizes around new or existing development groups. The protocol’s design and codebase remain in place,and other contributors can, in principle, step into roles that ECC previouslyfilled. However, the loss of an experienced, cohesive team introduces executionrisk around upgrades, maintenance and external partnerships.This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.