【ZEC surges 800% then faces "fatal blow": 25-member ECC team collectively resigns, plunges 20% in one day】

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From late 2025 to early 2026, ZEC (Zcash token) experienced dramatic fluctuations marked by "price surge - core team departure - market crash - new entity takeover":

1. Price volatility: ZEC price was just $15 in July 2024, then surged to $744 on November 7, 2025, achieving an 800% increase over the period, with market capitalization exceeding $10 billion and re-entering the top 20 in cryptocurrency market cap;

2. Team split: On January 7, 2026, the core development team at Zcash's company ECC (around 25 people, including CEO Josh Swihart) collectively resigned. The core conflict centered on the commercialization of the Zashi wallet—ECC wanted to privatize the default-private Zashi wallet and bring in external investment, but the Bootstrap nonprofit organization, which oversees ECC, rejected the proposal on grounds of "legal risks and protecting donor interests." ECC described the situation as a "constructive dismissal."

3. Market impact: After the resignation announcement, ZEC dropped 20% in a single day, with market cap shrinking from $10 billion to $8 billion. CoinGecko data showed that ZEC trading volume on that day was three times higher than the previous day;

4. Follow-up actions: The day after the resignation (January 8), the former ECC team announced the founding of a new company, CashZ, planning to launch a new wallet based on the Zashi codebase within weeks, enabling seamless migration for existing Zashi users;

5. Industry tension: The incident highlights the common conflict in the crypto industry between "nonprofit structures and startup team interests"—similar governance disputes have previously triggered controversies at Cosmos, Ethereum Foundation, and Solana Foundation.

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