The Zcash Foundation (ZF) is proud to announce the appointment of Alex Bornstein as Executive Director, effective November 1, 2025.
Since stepping in as Interim Executive Director in March 2025, Alex has led ZF through a pivotal chapter—revitalizing partnerships, strengthening community trust, and sharpening the Foundation’s strategic focus for measurable impact. His leadership has contributed to a renewed energy, openness, and sense of collaboration across the Zcash ecosystem.
As one ZF Board Member shared:
“Alex stepped up as interim CEO during uncertain times and quickly became pivotal in restoring trust and cooperation across our organizations. His deep expertise in Foundation operations, clear communication, and long-term Zcash vision make him the right person to lead ZF into its next chapter.”
Guided by the principles of coordination, communication, and execution, Alex has built an internal culture of clarity and collaboration that positions the Foundation, and its contributions to the broader Zcash ecosystem, for lasting success.
Looking ahead, Alex outlined an ambitious and unifying vision:
“Zcash’s future will be defined by bold coordination and relentless execution. Our strength lies in collaboration—with the Foundation’s world-class engineers, our partners at ECC, Shielded Labs, ZCG, QEDIT, ZecHub, and the global community driving innovation every day. Together, we’re not just sustaining momentum, we’re pioneering the next generation of privacy technology. The world needs privacy that scales, and Zcash will deliver it.”
In the months ahead, under Alex’s leadership, the Zcash Foundation will continue to seek new funding beyond the Zcash ecosystem, drive the adoption of Zebra as the network’s primary node implementation, and contribute to the work required to deprecate zcashd—a critical milestone in strengthening Zcash’s technical foundation. ZF will also expand the Shielded Aid Initiative, execute its 2026 event strategy, and chart the next phase of ZF’s contribution to ecosystem growth, ensuring that vision, coordination, and execution continue to drive measurable, real-world impact.
The Zcash Foundation extends its gratitude to the community for its trust and engagement throughout this transition. With Alex at the helm, ZF enters a new era of focus, unity, and innovation—working hand in hand with partners and contributors to shape a future where privacy empowers everyone.