Zcash Founder Renounces CEO Position

Zcash, a privacy coin built on Bitcoin tech and one of the more popular privacy-focused cryptocurrencies, will be welcoming Josh Swihart as the new CEO of its developer, the Electric Coin Company (ECC).

Stepping Down For Self-Care

In an article posted on Zooko’s personal Medium – which is separate from the one usually used to post Zcash-related content – the former CEO stated that the eight years at the helm of the ECC had led to a certain degree of conflation between himself as a person and the company he founded and lead.

In order to prevent unfortunate circumstances from arising from this, Zooko took the decision to step down and focus on his personal life.

“For the last eight years of my life, I’ve worked continuously on Zcash. I was blessed with the best team ever—people who could’ve done anything, but who chose to do this because they believed in the mission. I will always be grateful to them. For me personally, Zcash took over not only my life but also my identity.

It was hard for others to see Zcash as something separate from me. […] I’ll always be grateful that I had the opportunity to live out one of my science fiction dreams in reality. However, in the long run, I don’t think this conflation of Zcash with me personally is healthy for me, (or for) Zcash. Zcash’s role in human history is, and will be, much bigger than any individual.”

The separation is, by all accounts, completely amicable. After a few months away from everything, Zooko plans to announce his intentions for the next few years and what projects he will be undertaking.

Although he is no longer the CEO, Zooko will remain on the board of directors of the Bootstrap Project, which is the ECC’s parent company.

New CEO, Old Project Member

Although Joshi Swihart has been working part-time as an investor at Denver Angels for the past four months, he has nevertheless held a C-suite position at the ECC since 2018. During his six-year tenure at the ECC, he became a core member of the team, according to Zooko.

“I have known and worked with Josh for a long time. While he and I have often disagreed about how we should do things, we’ve never disagreed by why.”

Given the shared vision of the two leaders, the Bootstrap Project feels confident that Zcash’s future will be bright.