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Cypherpunk Technologies (Nasdaq: CYPH) announced a $5 million investment in Zcash Open Development Lab (ZODL). Cypherpunk Technologies is a privacy-focused digital asset investment company. The deal marks the firm’s first technology investment outside direct holdings of $ZEC.
ZODL, a Zcash development and wallet infrastructure startup, was founded by former Electric Coin Company CEO Josh Swihart. Electric Coin Company is the original developer behind the Zcash protocol. Swihart and several former team members joined the new organization to continue building tools for the privacy-focused cryptocurrency network.
The group previously created the Zashi wallet, a simple mobile wallet designed for Zcash users. The product has now been rebranded as Zodl. Zashi gained attention in 2025 after helping expand usage of the Orchard shielded pool. During that year, the amount of $ZEC in the pool increased from about 1 million to nearly 4 million coins.
ZODL now holds the wallet technology and related intellectual property. The organization plans to continue improving the application while also contributing to development at the Zcash protocol level.
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