Zashi, the flagship mobile wallet built by Zcash’s original engineering team, is rebranding to “Zodl” as its developers formally operate outside the Electric Coin Company (ECC) structure. The change matters less as a cosmetic refresh than as a signal: the same builders are continuing product work, but under a new corporate banner after a governance rupture that spilled into public view in early January.
Zcash Wallet Zashi Renamed ZodlThe post also tied the rebrand to a broader organizational reset. “In January of this year, the entire Electric Coin Company (ECC) team, the original creators of Zcash and Zashi, left ECC and formed a new company,” it said, naming the new entity Zcash Open Development Lab (ZODL) and positioning Zodl as the “Zcash flagship wallet.” The team framed the move as a way to pursue growth “without reliance on the Zcash development fund,” while keeping continuity on shipping and support.
The Background StoryBootstrap, for its part, has argued the flashpoint was a proposed transaction to move Zashi into a for-profit structure and attract outside capital, which it says had to be handled as a related-party deal involving nonprofit-controlled assets.
In a public statement and accompanying timeline, Bootstrap described talks around external investment and “alternative structures to privatize Zashi” intensifying in late October 2025, then accelerating in December amid rushed deadlines, incomplete documentation, and legal constraints tied to nonprofit fiduciary duties. The timeline states that matters “rapidly escalated” around Dec. 20 when the board was presented with a Jan. 1 deadline to approve a deal, followed by leadership departures in early January and the broader team exit shortly after.
At press time, Zcash traded at $284.34.
