Developer activity for the privacy-focused cryptocurrency Zcash has hit a low, dropping to its weakest level since November 2021. The Zcash token (ZEC) has also fallen 40% in the past two months. A governance dispute and price decline are cited as contributing factors. Santiment warns that declining development activity can impact altcoin performance.

The Electric Coin Company, main developers of Zcash, is in a governance dispute with Bootstrap, a non-profit supporting the protocol. The Electric Coin Company plans to form a new company separate from Bootstrap due to “malicious governance actions.” Bootstrap has engaged in discussions on external investment and privatizing Zashi, a self-custodial wallet for private Zcash transactions.

Despite the governance dispute, the Zcash Foundation assures that the protocol’s open-source nature will not be affected. The foundation emphasizes the resilience of Zcash’s codebase, designed to prevent any single party from controlling the protocol. Despite this assurance, the Zcash token price has dropped 14% in the past week, trading at around $433.

Monero (XMR) has surpassed Zcash in market capitalization, reclaiming its position as the leading privacy coin. Whales remain unfazed by the Zcash governance dispute, with $1.17 million worth of ZEC added by whales and $2.14 million added by fresh wallets in the past week. Zcash’s future remains uncertain amidst the ongoing governance conflict.

Read more at Cointelegraph: Zcash Developer Activity 2021 Low, ZEC Down 40% On Governance Dispute