Zcash Shakeup: Mert Explains BTC Slump, ZEC Falls 19%

Zcash drops 19% as developer team resigns amid governance dispute, while bitcoin slips below $90,000

Crypto markets fell again yesterday, led by bitcoin slipping below the $90,000 level. Bitcoin fell 2% to $89,900, while ether dropped 3% to $3,100 and solana fell 3% to $134. XRP saw a sharper move, declining 7% to $2.08.

Against that backdrop, Zcash (ZEC) fell 19% after its developer team resigned following a dispute with the project’s board. The departing team said it plans to form a new company and continue what it described as the same mission.

Zcash is a privacy-focused cryptocurrency designed to let users hide key transaction details by using zk-SNARKs, a cryptographic technique that can prove a transaction is valid without revealing identifying information. For supporters, that makes governance stability and long-term stewardship especially important, given the extra scrutiny privacy technology can draw from regulators and compliance teams.

The episode highlights a recurring tension in crypto networks: how open-source teams, foundations, and boards divide authority over funding, strategy, and accountability. When those relationships break down, markets often react quickly, particularly for projects where core development is closely associated with a small group.

Elsewhere in markets, a few tokens moved higher. Lit (+3%), WLFI (+3%), and XMR (+3%) were among the day’s top movers, even as major assets broadly declined.

Several industry and policy developments also landed as markets digested the sell-off:

• JPMorgan said it plans to launch its JPM Coin on the Canton Network.
• Barclays invested in Ubyx, a U.S. stablecoin settlement startup focused on infrastructure for regulated institutions to move digital money across issuers and wallets.
• The Senate Banking Committee faced mounting pressure ahead of a key vote next week on crypto market structure legislation.
• Wyoming introduced its first state-issued stablecoin, the Frontier Stable Token, now available to the public.
• World Liberty Financial said a subsidiary applied for a national trust bank charter as it aims to issue and custody its USD1 stablecoin under a federally regulated framework.
• Starknet suffered a multi-hour outage due to a block production bug; the network paused and rolled back before resuming.

Together, the Zcash leadership shake-up, renewed market weakness, and the steady drumbeat of stablecoin and infrastructure announcements underscored how crypto’s technical and governance risks can sit alongside rapid institutional and regulatory developments.