SEC Ends Probe Into Zcash Foundation, Dropping Crypto Enforcement Actions

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has ended its multi-year investigation into the Zcash Foundation. The foundation announced this in a blog post today, noting that the SEC did not recommend an enforcement action.

According to the blog post, the SEC issued a subpoena to the Zcash Foundation in August 2025. The agency investigated matters related to crypto asset offerings.

It said:

SEC Continues to Drop Crypto Investigations

Following the development, the non-profit stated that the outcome confirms its commitment to transparency and compliance with regulations. The foundation further restated its focus on advancing privacy-focused financial infrastructure.

Interestingly, the SEC has yet to confirm the announcement. The SEC launched numerous investigations against crypto entities. Gary Gensler led the regulator during these actions.

Paul Atkins became SEC Chair in April 2025. Since then, the regulator has dropped several crypto enforcement actions and investigations.

The SEC dropped pending lawsuits against Ripple, Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken. It also ended investigations into OpenSea, Robinhood Crypto, Uniswap Labs, and Gemini.

The move is part of the new administration’s approach to focus on rulemaking through dialogue and engagement rather than by enforcement. Zcash Foundation appears to be the latest beneficiary.

The decision is coming a month after Zcash founder Zooko Wilcox spoke at the SEC Roundtable on surveillance and privacy. Wilcox revealed at the roundtable that the SEC investigated him. The agency also targeted his company, Electric Coin Company (ECC), for potential fraud.

He added that the regulator never responded after ECC provided all the requested information. ECC developed Zcash and is separate from the Zcash Foundation, a non-profit organization.

Zcash Up By Almost 12% Amidst Crypto Market Uptrend

Meanwhile, the SEC’s decision to drop its lawsuit represents a positive development for the ZEC token. It has suffered as a result of recent controversy surrounding the Zcash Foundation. The token fell by 18% after all ECC employees were disengaged.

Disengaged employees, led by former CEO Josh Swihart, opposed Bootstrap. They announced plans to start a new company.

This sparked major controversy among stakeholders. Wilcox emphasized it would not affect Zcash. He noted the network is open-source and fully decentralized.

Still, the new development has had a positive impact on Zcash’s value. The ZEC token is up by almost 12% in the past 24 hours and now trades at $438. However, it is still down more than 16% year-to-date and far from its recent high of over $700.

Interestingly, another privacy coin, Monero (XMR), is now flying high with almost a 20% gain today. XMR is trading close to $800, having seen a more than 80% rise in value over the past seven days. This outperforms the broader market, even as Bitcoin reaches a multi-week high of $97,000.