Jack Gavigan announced on March 4, 2025, that he was stepping down as executive director of the Zcash Foundation. He posted the news on the foundation's own blog, after four years in the role1. “I believe that time has come, and so I am stepping down from the role of Executive Director of the Zcash Foundation,” Gavigan wrote. SignalPlus reported on March 4, 2025, that the foundation named Chief Operating Officer Alex Bornstein as interim executive director during the search for a permanent leader2.
The second executive exit at the Zcash Foundation on the record since 2020
Every move CryptoLately has verified there, by the day it became public
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| July 31, 2020 | Cincinnati left as Executive Director. Josh Cincinnati left as Executive Director of the Zcash Foundation |
| July 31, 2020 | Cincinnati left as Executive Director. Josh Cincinnati left as Executive Director of the Zcash Foundation |
| March 4, 2025 | Gavigan left as Executive Director. Jack Gavigan left as Executive Director of the Zcash Foundation |
| Nov. 1, 2025 | Bornstein became Executive Director. Alex Bornstein was named Executive Director of the Zcash Foundation |
| Nov. 11, 2025 | Delano became COO. Danika Delano was named Chief Operating Officer of the Zcash Foundation |
20 executive exits on the record in 2025
Executive exits CryptoLately has verified, by year; 2026 through Oct. 2, 2026
- 2025: 20
- 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2026
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 6 |
| 2020 | 1 |
| 2021 | 9 |
| 2022 | 9 |
| 2023 | 8 |
| 2024 | 11 |
| 2025 | 20 |
| 2026 | 27 |
The move
Gavigan's post traced his history with Zcash back nearly a decade. He advised founder Zooko Wilcox on an investor pitch. Gavigan then joined the Zerocoin Electric Coin Company full time, about a month before Zcash launched1. “As Executive Director, it has been my responsibility and privilege to serve the Zcash Foundation team, the Zcash community, and the Zcash mission for the past four years,” Gavigan wrote. He added that “one of my responsibilities as ED is to recognise when the time is right to step aside, to allow someone else to take the helm.” He named Bornstein's qualifications in the same post: “Alex is eminently qualified, with prior experience as ED of a 501(c)(3), and nearly four years as ZF's COO.”
Gavigan named the rumor he wanted to head off. “To preempt any speculation or rumours: I am not leaving to take up another role, and there is no rancour or disagreement between the ZF Board and me,” he wrote1. SignalPlus linked the change to strategy. The outlet reported that the transition reflected “the Foundation's strategic focus on enhancing operational efficiency, communication, and effective execution while continuing the advancement of privacy technologies.”2
The foundation before and after
Gavigan spent four years at the Electric Coin Company, then four more at the Zcash Foundation. By his own account, that span covered the entire period since Zcash's launch1. He credited the ecosystem's growth past those two groups. QEDIT, Shielded Labs, the Financial Privacy Foundation, ZecHub and ZingoLabs now draw funding from the foundation's grants program, he wrote. Bornstein stepped into the interim role with nearly four years already served as the foundation's chief operating officer, Gavigan wrote.
What came next
The Zcash Foundation's board appointed Bornstein executive director on a permanent basis on November 1, 2025, DL News reported3. That came nearly eight months after he took the interim role in March 2025. DL News reported two more leadership moves followed on November 11, 2025. Pili Guerra became head of engineering and Danika Delano became chief operating officer, both having joined the foundation in 2020. The outlet tied the moves to Zcash's ZEC token, which had rallied more than 1,000 percent over the course of 2025. DL News said the run had drawn attention from investor Arthur Hayes.
Sources
- Jack Gavigan, "Changing of the Guard," Zcash Foundation, March 4, 2025, https://zfnd.org/changing-of-the-guard/
- "Zcash Foundation Leadership Transition and Strategic Focus on Privacy Technologies," SignalPlus, March 4, 2025, https://t.signalplus.com/crypto-news/detail/zcash-foundation-leadership-transition-strategy
- Tim Craig, "Zcash Foundation shakes up leadership amidst blockchain token's 1,000% price rally," DL News, November 12, 2025, https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMitAFBVV95cUxOZHJaQ1VSWjZvUHFNWXZOU2NsODNNOHFjQTdQWElfNi1WSl9xMHJOdGkyNFVPenNRUlhJQ0VfalRQLTlLWU1PZ0FwbTc5cE9jczVRTk1QNVBkRjYzcUh2VVNSb19vNEd0WUkzb2VNdnpLbVMxVG1NV1dQNkFRVHQxUjV3bmhzUVJSREpEM2ozcTZYTVZuYkxzdUNnWTYzZkxOWi0xT1pjdFZKSlJBcWZwbHNVUWg?oc=5