Do you remember ZEC? When everyone thought it would revolutionize crypto privacy and become the next big thing? I think about it again seeing the current price around 357 dollars, after it nearly hit 750 in November 2025.

But let’s rewind a bit. Q4 2025 was wild for ZEC. In just a few weeks, the price exploded by more than 700%, jumping from under 50 dollars at the end of summer to 400 dollars in October. At one point, ZEC had become the top-performing major asset in the crypto market. It surpassed Monero by market capitalization. Total valuation surged by nearly 10 billion dollars.

And unlike many baseless altcoin pumps, this one was driven by real catalysts. The privacy narrative had turned hot again. a16z had shown an increase in searches for privacy. Figures like Arthur Hayes and Naval Ravikant started talking about “encrypted Bitcoin.” Capital followed. Cypherpunk Technologies bought 18 million dollars worth of ZEC. Winklevoss Capital added 58 million. Grayscale reopened its Zcash Trust. The November halving also reduced supply.

But here’s where I noticed something odd. Even before the 2026 governance scandal, the TVL in the ecosystem had already collapsed. At its peak, Zcash DeFi had more than 30 million dollars. A few weeks later, it was down to under 2 million. Capital was quietly leaving. The price, meanwhile, stayed high. This disconnect is usually where markets start preparing for what comes next.

Then came January 2026. The leadership team of Electric Coin Company resigned after a governance conflict with the Zcash Bootstrap Foundation. The market reacted immediately. The price dropped 14 to 25% almost instantly.

But here’s the detail many people missed: the developers didn’t really abandon Zcash. They just left ECC to create a new independent structure and keep developing privacy tools, including the Zashi wallet. The protocol itself never stopped functioning.

Looking at the full timeline, it’s almost too neat. The cypherpunk narrative is back in force. Institutions are buying. The halving reduces supply. The price climbs 8x in two months. Then everything reverses. The TVL disappears. A conflict emerges. The momentum runs out of steam.

And there it goes: 10 billion dollars in valuation evaporates. More than 7 billion gone. What’s interesting is to wonder whether the signals were there from the start—or whether the team had hidden them well. Crypto markets love these cycles, but the questions remain open.