Zcash Devs’ Exit was Liquidity Extraction Ploy, Claims Analyst

The entire Zcash developer team resigned in the early hours of today, causing at least a 20% drop in ZEC price. While the reason for the resignation was a governance crisis, crypto analysts say the move means more than what most people think.

Top crypto analyst Michaël van de Poppe on X in response to the news said the resignation is a strategy to extract the liquidity on the project to invest in another “hype” through a different protocol. He referred to the recent ZEC rally as the source of liquidity the team has extracted in the sudden resignation. 

Zcash Team Creates New Startup

Zcash is the biggest privacy coin in the industry, but it has been quiet for many years until towards the end of 2025. The coin picked up steam and started a huge rally that later spread to other privacy coins like Monero. According to experts, the sudden rally was fueled by an increasing need for privacy as blockchain continues to be integrated in finance. 

The resignation of the dev team is coming shortly after the end of the rally, which makes it suspicious and raises allegations of liquidity extraction. Interestingly and in line with the allegation, the team immediately launched a new startup called Cashz, that seems to do exactly the same thing as Zcash with the same technology.

Former CEO of the Electric Coin Company (ECC), the company behind Zcash shared information on the new startup within 24 hours of the resignation, with what they called a new Zcash wallet. Some observers have argued that the breakout was necessary and is actually bullish for Zcash, although it is not clear how this is the case.

Apparently, the new startup, unlike Zcash, is for profit, as a strategy to scale since Zcash probably remained stagnant due to its non-profit status. 

ZEC Suffers Team Resignation

Following the team’s resignation, the ZEC coin crashed by at least 20% within minutes of the news. This was expected, as news like this usually affects the project in question either positively or negatively.

Although the coin has recovered slightly from $382 to $433, it is nowhere close to the 2025 high of nearly $700 or even the price before the crash at $480. If the new startup is really bullish for Zcash, the token may recover soon but if not, lower prices may be in view.

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