02 RECORD — 2013 to 2026 - one spine - filter by strand

From Zerocash to the ETF

Launch, funding, governance, leadership, exploits, upgrades, market and the promotion network on one axis. The governance strand alone runs Founders' Reward to ZIP 1014 to ZIP 1015 to ZIP 1016 to the January 2026 walkout to a VC-funded lab whose engineers accounted for roughly 82 per cent of merged protocol and wallet repository changes in Ironwood. Dates are printed as the record states them: a row the sources date only to a month says so rather than borrowing a day from its sort key.

shielded share of supply — 2018 to 2026

Shielded share of ZEC supply, 2018 to 2026
Shielded share of ZEC supply, by reading date
DateShare of supplySource note
Aug 20183.6 per centKappos et al.'s own measurement, in the paper that also found 0.3 per cent of transactions fully private
Aug 20217.4 per centZECStats' five-years-ago baseline
Early 20248 per cent-
Aug 20249 per centForbes gives it as about 9 per cent, 1.48M of 16.3M ZEC
Start of 202511 per cent-
Oct 202518 per cent-
Nov 202523 per cent-
May 202630 per centthe peak, about 5M ZEC, and the only time the shielded share has reached 30 per cent
2026-08-22 (block 3,456,227)26 to 26.8 per centCipherScan at block 3,456,227 gives 26.0 percent shielded; ZECStats reads 26.8 percent. Cite the range, roughly 26 to 27 percent. Coin Metrics adds that the growth was driven primarily by shielding and deshielding activity, and that fully shielded transfers remain a small share.

Nine and a half years after mainnet, the shielded share peaked at 30 per cent and fell back. The final reading is a band because its two sources disagree: CipherScan reads 26 per cent and ZECStats 26.8 per cent on the same day. The decline from the May 2026 peak spans the Orchard disclosure and the forced Ironwood migration; the corpus flags the fall and declines to attribute a cause, and so does this chart.

shielded-sharecite
claim
shielded-share
last verified
2026-08-22
confidence
med
  1. Kappos, Yousaf, Maller, Meiklejohn — An Empirical Analysis of Anonymity in Zcash, USENIX Security 2018 USENIX · accessed 2026-08-22
  2. ZEC Stats (zecstats.com) ZEC Stats · accessed 2026-08-22
  3. crypto.news — Why 30% of Zcash supply is in the shielded pool (29 May 2026) crypto.news · 2026-05-29 · accessed 2026-08-22
  4. Forbes — How Satoshi Collaborator Zooko Wilcox Aims to Revive His Zombie Blockchain (8 Aug 2024) Forbes · 2025-03-12 · accessed 2026-08-22
  5. Coin Metrics, State of the Network #338 Coin Metrics · 2025-11-08 · accessed 2026-08-22
  6. CipherScan — Ironwood migration tracker CipherScan · 2026-08-22 · accessed 2026-08-22
  7. CoinGecko — Zcash CoinGecko · accessed 2026-08-22
  8. Coinglass ZEC derivatives coinglass.com · accessed 2026-08-22
C8
C8cite
claim
C8
last verified
2026-08-22
confidence
high
  1. The Block — Zcash developers quit, form new company (7 Jan 2026) The Block · 2026-01-07 · accessed 2026-08-22
  2. CoinDesk — ZODL raises $25M (9 Mar 2026) CoinDesk · 2026-03-09 · accessed 2026-08-22
  3. Draft ecc-zbloc (Obsolete) Zcash Improvement Proposals · accessed 2026-08-22
the 82 per cent figure, its scope and its confidence

124 dated entries, 9 strands. Showing the 8 leadership rows; the year numerals stay, so a strand's silent years remain visible.

all124exploit24governance16funding9leadership8protocol22market12regulatory8network20launch5
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2017year onlyleadershipJosh Cincinnati becomes ZF Executive Director Josh Cincinnati becomes ZF's first Executive Director (served ~3 years).T2017-01-01
T2017-01-01cite
claim
T2017-01-01
last verified
2026-08-22
confidence
med
  1. Zcash Community Forum — Josh Cincinnati leaving the Zcash Foundation (31 Jul 2020) Zcash Community Forum · 2020-07-31 · accessed 2026-08-22
2018
2019
2020
31 Jul 2020leadership / governanceJosh Cincinnati resigns as ZF Executive Director Josh Cincinnati resigns as ZF ED: mutual trust was irreparably lost with ECC leadership; he judged it unlikely that the ECC's top leadership would ever change.T2020-07-31
T2020-07-31cite
claim
T2020-07-31
last verified
2026-08-22
confidence
high
  1. Zcash Community Forum — Josh Cincinnati leaving the Zcash Foundation (31 Jul 2020) Zcash Community Forum · 2020-07-31 · accessed 2026-08-22
2021
Early 2021month onlyleadershipJack Gavigan ("Dodger") becomes ZF Executive Director Jack Gavigan ("Dodger") becomes ZF Executive DirectorT2021-01-01
T2021-01-01cite
claim
T2021-01-01
last verified
2026-08-22
confidence
high
  1. ZF — Bids Farewell to Jack Gavigan (2 Apr 2025) Zcash Foundation · 2025-04-02 · accessed 2026-08-22
2022
2023
18 Dec 2023leadershipZooko steps down as ECC CEO; Swihart succeeds him Zooko Wilcox steps down as ECC CEO after 8 years; Josh Swihart (previously SVP Growth) becomes CEO. Zooko remains a Bootstrap director. "Zcash took over not only my life but also my identity."T2023-12-18
T2023-12-18cite
claim
T2023-12-18
last verified
2026-08-22
confidence
high
  1. The Block — Zooko steps down as ECC CEO (18 Dec 2023) The Block · 2023-12-18 · accessed 2026-08-22
2024
5 Jul 2024leadershipZooko departs as Bootstrap Executive Director and resigns from the Bootstrap board Zooko departs as Bootstrap Executive Director and resigns from the Bootstrap boardT2024-07-05
T2024-07-05cite
claim
T2024-07-05
last verified
2026-08-22
confidence
high
  1. ECC — Zooko and a new focus (5 Jul 2024) Electric Coin Company · 2024-07-05 · accessed 2026-08-22
3 Oct 2024leadershipSean Bowe departs ECC to do independent Zcash research Sean Bowe departs ECC to do independent Zcash researchT2024-10-03
T2024-10-03cite
claim
T2024-10-03
last verified
2026-08-22
confidence
high
  1. Zcash Community Forum — I'm departing ECC (Sean Bowe, 3 Oct 2024) Zcash Community Forum · 2024-10-03 · accessed 2026-08-22
2025
4 Mar 2025leadershipJack Gavigan steps down as ZF ED Jack Gavigan steps down as ZF ED after four years; Alex Bornstein interimT2025-03-04
T2025-03-04cite
claim
T2025-03-04
last verified
2026-08-22
confidence
high
  1. ZF — Changing of the Guard (4 Mar 2025) Zcash Foundation · 2025-03-04 · accessed 2026-08-22
1 Nov 2025leadershipAlex Bornstein appointed permanent ZF Executive Director Alex Bornstein appointed permanent ZF Executive DirectorT2025-11-01
T2025-11-01cite
claim
T2025-11-01
last verified
2026-08-22
confidence
high
  1. ZF — Board Appoints Alex Bornstein as ED (1 Nov 2025) Zcash Foundation · 2025-11-01 · accessed 2026-08-22
2026
Timeline - ZCashReveal