Zcash Price Forecast: ZEC Risks 50% Drop After ‘Zodl’ Wallet Rebrand

Zcash (ZEC) price slipped by roughly 2.70% after its developer team rebranded the flagship wallet amid a messy developer split. The privacy coin now threatens to extend the downtrend.

Zodl Wallet Rebrand Follows Builder Split

Zcash’s original development team has formally separated from the Electric Coin Company (ECC) and launched a new independent entity, the Zcash Open Development Lab (ZODL).

The group also rebranded the flagship Zashi wallet to “Zodl,” a headline move that signals a shift in who steers key user-facing infrastructure.

Hi. It’s a new day for Zcash!

The entire former ECC team is now Zcash Open Development Lab (ZODL), and we are rebranding the Zashi wallet to Zodl.

You don’t need to do a thing, the app will rebrand with the next update.

This is just a start. Big things to come. https://t.co/ljmMzPX4bL

— Josh Swihart 🛡 (@jswihart) February 16, 2026

The team says the change does not require users to migrate funds or alter seed phrases, and the wallet continues to function normally. But the bigger story lies behind the branding: Zcash’s ecosystem now runs on two competing centres of influence.

The split traces back to a governance clash involving ECC and Bootstrap, the nonprofit structure tied to Zcash oversight.

Developers resigned, regrouped under ZODL, and retained stewardship of the primary wallet interface. Zcash’s price declined in response.

Zcash Technical Analysis

ZEC/USD Four-Hour Price Chart: Imminent Selloffs Ahead

On the 4-hour chart, ZEC is forming a bear pennant after rejecting near $328 (the 0.618 Fib retracement). Price has since tightened into a triangle, with lower highs pressing into support around $280.

The pattern follows a sharp drop from over $400, setting a bearish continuation backdrop. ZEC now trades near $285–$290, capped under the 200-period EMA, while the 50-EMA sits below the 200-EMA, keeping momentum skewed lower.

A clean break below $280 would validate the pennant and shift focus to $250–$260 first (next Fib pocket), with scope to revisit $205–$210 if selling accelerates.

ZEC/USD Weekly Price Chart: Descending Channel Raises 50% Correction Odds

ZEC continues to respect a descending channel that has guided price lower since the $540–$560 peak. Each rebound has produced a lower high, and the latest bounce stalled below the 20-week EMA near $329, leaving weekly trend structure intact.

The lower boundary of that weekly channel projects into the $150–$180 region over the coming months. That zone also overlaps with ZEC’s 200-week EMA (the blue wave), making it a realistic technical magnet if the downtrend persists.

Bulls need to reclaim $300 as support and break above weekly channel resistance to invalidate this downside path.