Ex-ECC Team Unveils New Zcash Startup ‘cashZ’ After Governance Dispute
The Zcash protocol remains fully operational despite recent tensions between the former Electric Coin Company (ECC) team and Bootstrap, the nonprofit overseeing Zcash development.
Josh Swihart, former ECC lead, announced the launch of a new Zcash-focused startup and a wallet built on the Zashi codebase, tentatively named “cashZ.” On X, Swihart framed the move as a startup pivot to “scale Zcash to billions of users,” adding that “startups can scale, but nonprofits can’t.” The initiative is positioned as a faster route to building consumer products outside nonprofit governance constraints.
The announcement follows Thursday’s dispute with Bootstrap over control and restructuring of Zashi. ECC described the team as “constructively discharged,” while Bootstrap cited legal and fiduciary limits. Swihart stressed that the Zcash protocol itself remains unaffected, with the same engineers continuing development under the new corporate structure.
ZEC saw sharp volatility after the news, with ripple effects across the privacy coin sector. Observers are watching the new wallet as a key indicator of whether the shake-up will accelerate product launches or fragment the small ecosystem further.
