ECC team departure triggers panic, ZEC whale makes another move after losing nearly 5 million over 67 days

A Liquidation in Panic

According to the latest news, on January 9th, a ZEC whale liquidated its long position due to market panic sentiment. This decision resulted in a loss of approximately $4.9 million after holding the position for 67 days. Interestingly, shortly after the liquidation, the whale reopened a smaller ZEC long position with 10x leverage. Behind this series of actions reflects the market’s emotional fluctuations under sudden shocks and the complex judgments of large holders about the future market.

The Trigger of the Event

What triggered this panic

The sharp decline in ZEC price originated from a major event. On January 8th, Josh Swihart, CEO of the Zcash development team Electric Coin Company (ECC), announced that the entire ECC team had collectively resigned due to governance disagreements with the non-profit organization Bootstrap behind it. According to public information, most members of Bootstrap’s board of directors are accused of deviating from Zcash’s mission, leading to the ECC team’s inability to perform their duties effectively.

This news triggered a chain reaction in the market. On the same day, ZEC’s price dropped over 18%, hitting a new low for the month. From related reports, ZEC once fell to $381.4 on January 8th, and although it rebounded somewhat afterward, it remained under pressure.

The full picture of price movement

Whale’s Losses and Subsequent Actions

Why did it lose so much

The $4.9 million loss of this whale came from a relatively long holding period. A 67-day position suggests it was established around mid-November last year, when ZEC’s price was likely higher. Based on available information, the whale’s cost basis should be above $500 (specifics depend on market prices at that time).

This loss resulted from a typical “panic liquidation”—not a proactive stop-loss based on technical or fundamental analysis, but a forced cut due to sudden shocks. Psychologically, this reflects that even large holders are not immune to market sentiment.

Signals from subsequent actions

More noteworthy is that after liquidation, this whale quickly reopened a position with 10x leverage. Several points are worth considering:

• Increased risk appetite: Moving from liquidation to re-leveraging indicates the whale is not scared off and may see current conditions as an entry opportunity.
• Reduced position size: Although leverage increased, the actual principal is smaller, reflecting more cautious risk management.
• Confidence in fundamentals: The whale’s quick re-entry might suggest it views the ECC departure as a short-term shock and believes the ZEC protocol itself remains intact.

Market Bull-Bear Dynamics

Who is shorting, who is longing

According to related reports, the ZEC market currently shows a clear opposition between bulls and bears:

• Bull side: The largest long whale on Hyperliquid (address 0x152) added to its position decisively during the price decline, accumulating 9,871 ZEC (about $454,000) in the past 20 hours. Its current long position with 10x leverage is approximately $12.35 million.
• Bear side: The “largest short” whale remains in a floating loss, with a position worth about $17.48 million and an unrealized loss of $1.64 million; the “Altcoin Air Force Leader” continues to increase its ZEC short positions, now totaling $2.08 million.

This stalemate indicates significant divergence in market outlook for ZEC’s future.

Market fundamentals stability

An important fact to clarify: although ECC team’s departure triggered panic, the ZEC protocol itself has not been affected. ECC’s new CEO explicitly stated they are establishing a new company to continue Zcash development, and team members remain the same. This means that technical development and maintenance will not be interrupted—only the organizational structure has changed.

Key Points for Future Trends

From the current situation, ZEC’s subsequent performance may be influenced by several factors:

• Market sentiment recovery: If the market confirms that ECC team’s departure does not impact ZEC’s technical development, panic sentiment may gradually subside.
• Progress of the new company: The speed of establishing ECC’s new company and its subsequent operational capacity will directly affect investor confidence.
• Bull-bear capital battle: Both sides are increasing their positions, which could lead to more intense price fluctuations.
• Market cycle effects: As a privacy coin representative, ZEC’s performance will also be affected by overall market sentiment.

Summary

The story of this whale is actually a microcosm of the entire ZEC market’s real reflection when facing sudden events. The $4.9 million loss is shocking, but the rapid re-leveraging afterward is more noteworthy—it shows that large holders still have confidence in ZEC’s fundamental logic, but are maintaining heightened caution toward recent uncertainties.

ZEC currently ranks 17th by market cap, with a circulating supply of about 16.47 million coins. Under the impact of ECC’s departure, the market has fully priced in panic. The key now is to watch the progress of the new company’s operations and market sentiment recovery. Both bulls and bears are continuing to add positions, which suggests that prices may remain volatile for some time. Investors should prepare psychologically for potential sharp fluctuations.