Steadfast After the Turmoil: Zcash CEO Still Promotes New Wallet, Now Open for Pre-Registration

Zcash Development Team CEO Josh Swihart announced the launch of a new Zcash wallet product and has opened pre-registrations just one day after the team experienced a major resignation wave. This announcement carries significant implications—against the backdrop of market confidence being shaken and ZEC prices dropping sharply, the core team is responding with a new product plan to stabilize market expectations.

New Wallet Plan: Promise or Self-Rescue?

Core Announcement Content

Josh Swihart stated that ECC will continue to fully invest in the Zcash ecosystem, and the new wallet is a concrete embodiment of this commitment. According to the announcement, pre-registrations for the wallet are now open, but specific features, launch date, or technical details have not yet been disclosed.

Strategically, the launch of the new wallet aims to improve user experience and accelerate user adoption. This is ECC’s way of demonstrating that it is still working for the Zcash ecosystem in the face of governance crises.

Background: The “Big Earthquake” That Happened Yesterday

To understand the significance of this announcement, it’s important to know what happened the day before. According to the latest news, the ECC team collectively resigned on January 8th due to serious disagreements with the Zcash governance body Bootstrap’s board.

Specifically:

• ECC accused the Bootstrap board (especially some members of ZCAM) of decision-making that has “significantly deviated from Zcash’s mission”
• Bootstrap unilaterally amended the team’s employment terms, which ECC described as a “de facto dismissal”
• The entire ECC team resigned collectively, planning to form a new company to continue developing privacy technology

This governance turmoil directly impacted market confidence. On January 8th, ZEC experienced intense volatility, with a maximum 24-hour drop of 20%, ultimately falling about 16.6% on that day. As of today, ZEC is priced at $432.58, down 9.64% in the past 24 hours.

Market Status: Price Under Pressure but Protocol Stable

It’s important to note that although the price is under pressure, the Zcash protocol itself remains unaffected. Josh Swihart explicitly emphasized in the team resignation statement that the on-chain protocol of Zcash will continue to operate normally. This incident is essentially a separation at the development support organization level, not a project-level split.

Can the New Wallet Change the Situation?

The Delicacy of Timing

From a timing perspective, the launch of the new wallet is critical. In the context of team separation and shaken market confidence, releasing a new product plan immediately sends a signal: the core development team is still working, and the project will not stagnate.

This is important for stabilizing user and investor expectations.

The Uncertainty of Reality

However, it’s also necessary to recognize that launching a new product plan at this moment faces challenges:

• The team has just experienced a split; the operational capacity of the new organization remains to be seen
• There are policy risks regarding privacy coins (regulatory attitudes vary across countries)
• Whether users will accept the new wallet depends on the product’s competitiveness
• The actual conversion rate of pre-registrations and user feedback remain unknown

Personal Observations

This announcement is more of a “gesture” than a “turning point.” In the worst moments, the CEO choosing to continue pushing the product plan demonstrates a commitment to the project. But the market’s main concern remains whether this new team can truly deliver, and the long-term positioning of Zcash in the privacy coin space.

In the short term, whether the new wallet gains attention depends on the participation in pre-registrations. Long-term, Zcash needs breakthroughs in policy environment and technological innovation to regain market confidence.

Summary

One day after experiencing governance turmoil, the Zcash development team announced a new wallet plan and opened pre-registrations. This is a strategic move “amidst crisis there is opportunity.” Although ZEC prices remain under pressure, the protocol remains stable and the team’s commitment is clear. Moving forward, attention should be on the actual response to pre-registrations, progress of the wallet’s launch, and whether the separated new team can effectively advance the project. In the current environment of policy risks and shaken market confidence, whether this new wallet can become a key to reversing the situation depends on the product’s competitiveness and market acceptance.