Zashi, the leading wallet created by the original Zcash developer team, is renaming itself “Zodl” as its developers work outside of the Electric Coin Company (ECC) structure. The change is more important as a cosmetic refresh than a signal: the same designers continue to work on the brand, but under a new corporate banner after the outbreak of governance that spilled into the public at the beginning of January.
Zcash Wallet Zashi Renamed Zodl
In a post on X dated Feb. 16, the wallet team said that the next app update will rename Zashi to Zodl “without affecting the user experience,” stressing that “no action is required” from users. “A new product for a new chapter, but everything else remains the same: the wallet, the support team, and our commitment to Zcash,” reads the announcement. “We are moving forward with clarity and purpose, and this change reflects the building momentum.”
The post also tied the renaming to a broader organizational reset. “In January of this year, the entire team of Electric Coin Company (ECC), the original founders of Zcash and Zashi, left ECC and founded a new company,” he said, naming the new company Zcash Open Development Lab (ZODL) and positioning Zodl as “Zcash flagship wallet.” The team planned the move as a way to pursue growth “without relying on the Zcash development fund,” while maintaining continuity in shipping and support.
On purpose, the wallet team used language that will be familiar to long-time Zcash fans, clearly emphasizing the product’s roadmap to privacy-first payments. “We envision a world without mass financial surveillance. A world where law-abiding people can do things freely and privately, without fear that their data will be exploited or weaponized,” the post said. “There is no sovereignty without privacy. Our banner has changed, but our mission has not.”
The immediate practical impact of users is limited: the same application is expected to develop locally, with brand changes from all channels, including the presence of Discord support. The most important change is the governance and ownership context: the wallet is now clearly presented as a product of ZODL instead of ECC, after weeks of public debate about who can control, finance, and implement potential consumer-facing initiatives in Zashi that could trade.
Background Story
The break stems from a recent conflict in 2025 between ECC leadership and Bootstrap, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that governs the ECC. In early January, former ECC CEO Josh Swihart said the board’s actions left the group without a viable path within the existing structure. “Unfortunately, the decisions made by the four Bootstrap board members forced everyone at ECC to leave the company immediately,” Swihart wrote on the Zcash Community Forum on Jan. 9. “I wish we hadn’t been forced to move so quickly. But we couldn’t. This is a serious matter. It’s not a game. And as you can see, the consequences are dire.”
Bootstrap, on the other hand, argued the flashpoint was the proposed project to move Zashi to a profit structure and attract foreign capital, saying it should have been handled as a related party agreement involving non-profit controlled assets.
In a public statement and an accompanying timeline, Bootstrap described negotiations on foreign investment and “other structures to privatize Zashi” solidified in late October 2025, then accelerated in December amid deadlines, incomplete documents, and legal restrictions related to non-profit trust activities. The timeline says the news “expanded rapidly” on Dec. 20 when the board presented a deadline of Jan. 1 to ratify the deal, followed by leadership departures in early January and a broader team coming out soon after.
At press time, Zcash traded at $284.34.
The featured image was created with DALL.E, a chart from TradingView.com
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