Zcash Developer Activity Hits Record Low Amid Governance Crisis

Record Low Developer Activity in Zcash Ecosystem

Developer engagement with Zcash, a privacy-centric cryptocurrency, has reached its lowest point in years. This decline is attributed to ongoing governance disagreements and a substantial drop in the cryptocurrency's value.

According to data from Santiment, developer activity for Zcash has decreased to its weakest since November 2021. Concurrently, the Zcash (ZEC) token's value has plummeted by approximately 40% over the past two months.

Impact of Governance Dispute

The decreased activity coincides with a governance conflict between the Electric Coin Company, which primarily develops Zcash, and Bootstrap, the non-profit backing the protocol. The Electric Coin Company recently announced its separation from Bootstrap, citing "malicious governance actions." In response, Bootstrap revealed discussions about external investment to potentially privatize Zashi, a self-custodial wallet for Zcash transactions.

The Electric Coin Company has also unveiled plans to launch a new wallet, cashZ, in the coming weeks.

Zcash Foundation's Assurance

Despite these challenges, the Zcash Foundation has reassured stakeholders that the protocol's open-source nature ensures its resilience and integrity, even amid organizational changes.

Nonetheless, the Zcash token's price has fallen 14% over the past week, trading at approximately $433. Despite the price drop, major investors remain confident, accumulating $1.17 million in ZEC tokens last week, while new wallets added $2.14 million.

Meanwhile, Zcash's competitor, Monero (XMR), has overtaken ZEC in market capitalization, reclaiming its position as the leading privacy-focused cryptocurrency, according to CoinMarketCap.