The Zcash Network: Strength in Decentralization, Unity in Purpose

In light of recent developments at Electric Coin Company, Zcash Foundation would like to reaffirm several key facts about the Zcash network and our enduring role in the ecosystem.

Zcash is—and always has been—a decentralized, open-source protocol.

No single contributor, team, or organization controls Zcash. In fact, Zcash was deliberately designed for resilience. Its codebase is open source, its consensus rules are enforced by independent node operators around the world, and a diverse set of organizations and contributors support its development. This structure ensures that changes within a single organization or across many of them, while meaningful, do not compromise the integrity or continuity of the Zcash blockchain. This continues to be true: the network continues to operate normally—blocks continue to be produced, transactions continue to settle, and users’ funds and privacy remain secure.

As a steward of the protocol, Zcash Foundation’s mission is to serve the public good. Our work focuses on:

  • Maintaining and supporting Zcash protocol development
  • Funding independent research and engineering
  • Supporting decentralization across infrastructure and governance
  • Advocating for privacy as a fundamental human right

These commitments remain unchanged.

We recognize that moments of transition within the ecosystem can create uncertainty. However, at moments like this it is important to understand this distinction: distinguish between organizational shifts and the health of the network. The Zcash network is fundamentally independent of any single organization, board or corporate entity.

The network’s resilience and future are not tied to any single organization’s fate. Instead, its strength and future is shaped by a global community of independent users, miners, researchers, developers, and organizations united by a shared commitment to privacy-preserving technology. This decentralization is not only Zcash’s strength–it is a defining hallmark.

As always, Zcash Foundation remains committed to transparency, continuity, and collaboration with all ecosystem participants, and we will continue to act in the best long-term interests of the Zcash network and the community.

Zcash was built to last. Its decentralization is not theoretical—it is operational, proven, and secured by a global, independent network committed to financial privacy. The network continues to run smoothly and securely, just as it always has—uninterrupted, reliable, and resilient.

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Thank you, this was a much-needed statement! That said, meaningful steps must now be taken by ZF to decentralize the core. When direction, technology, and development are primarily shaped by a single core team, uncertainties like today’s are not surprising; they reflect an ecosystem that remains overly dependent on one group. However, I do disagree with the network resilience point. At present, Zcash does rely on a single team operating a single-client model, which is a critical single point of failure. True resilience comes from diversity - across teams, implementations, and decision-making paths. We’ve started a discussion on a roadmap for this, and we welcome thoughts along these lines: