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Former Electric Coin Company CEO Josh Swihart has launched a new for-profit startup to build Zcash consumer products, including a wallet called cashZ, following a governance dispute with Bootstrap, the nonprofit overseeing ECC’s development work.
Led by former ECC chief Josh Swihart, the team says the move will allow Zcash wallet builders to scale faster, ship products more efficiently, and avoid constraints tied to nonprofit governance.
The announcement follows a heated dispute with Bootstrap, the nonprofit organization created to support Zcash development, over control of the Zashi wallet project.
While the disagreement initially rattled markets and sparked concerns about fragmentation, Swihart insists the Zcash protocol itself remains untouched and that Zcash wallet builders are continuing work under a new corporate structure.
Swihart said the decision to launch a startup was driven by structural limitations faced by nonprofits, particularly when building and distributing consumer-facing products at scale. In a public statement posted on X, he framed the move as necessary for growth rather than a rupture.
“We need to scale Zcash to billions of users,” Swihart wrote. “Startups can scale, but nonprofits can’t. That’s why we created a new Zcash startup.” — Josh Swihart, former CEO, Electric Coin Company.
The dispute emerged after disagreements with a 501(c)(3) nonprofit tasked with overseeing ECC’s work and stewarding Zcash-related initiatives.
According to ECC leadership, governance and fiduciary constraints limited Bootstrap’s ability to approve restructuring proposals related to Zashi, ultimately leading to what the team described as a “constructive discharge.”
Bootstrap, for its part, argued that nonprofit obligations restricted how assets, intellectual property, and revenue-generating products could be handled, especially when transitioning toward a more commercial model.
Under the new structure, Swihart said the team will launch a wallet built from the existing Zashi codebase, with the working name “cashZ.” The product is intended to be a flagship consumer application demonstrating how Zcash wallet builders can improve usability while preserving privacy guarantees.
The wallet will continue to rely on the Zcash protocol, developed and maintained by the broader community and documented. Swihart emphasized that no protocol changes are involved and that consensus rules, privacy features, and cryptographic foundations remain intact.
“The protocol is unaffected,” Swihart said, stressing that the same engineers are continuing to build on Zcash. “This is about how products get shipped, not about changing the network.”
The former ECC team believes the startup structure will enable faster hiring, clearer accountability, and easier access to capital, all of which they argue are essential if Zcash wallet builders hope to compete with larger ecosystems that already dominate consumer crypto adoption.
The announcement initially triggered a sharp decline in ZEC, Zcash’s native token, with volatility spilling into the broader privacy coin sector. Traders reacted to headlines suggesting a “split,” even as both sides insisted that the network itself was not at risk.
Analysts say the market response reflects lingering sensitivity around governance disputes in smaller crypto ecosystems.
“When teams fracture or reorganize publicly, investors worry about execution risk,” said a digital asset analyst who tracks privacy-focused networks. “For Zcash wallet builders, perception matters almost as much as code.”
Despite the short-term volatility, some investors see the move as potentially positive. They argue that a startup-led approach could finally unlock user growth that Zcash has struggled to achieve, despite its strong cryptographic foundations and long-standing reputation in privacy research.
Still, questions remain about whether the transition will simplify or further fragment an already niche ecosystem. Zcash has long balanced the roles of nonprofits, foundations, and for-profit contributors, a structure that supporters say protects decentralization but critics argue slows innovation.
For Zcash wallet builders, the key test will be execution. If the new wallet ships quickly, attracts users, and demonstrates improved onboarding, the startup model could validate Swihart’s argument that commercial entities are better suited for consumer crypto products.
“If they ship fast and users show up, this will look like a necessary evolution,” said a privacy-coin ecosystem consultant. “If not, it risks becoming another layer of organizational complexity.”
The coming months will likely determine whether the move strengthens Zcash’s position or deepens divisions within its community. For now, the focus remains on whether Zcash wallet builders can translate structural freedom into tangible adoption gains.
What is clear is that the governance clash has forced a broader reckoning. Zcash is no longer just debating privacy technology as it is confronting how that technology is built, funded, and delivered to users at scale.
