F2Pool Co-Founder Criticizes Zcash's Price Surge as Narrative-Driven Speculation

ChainCatcher report: F2Pool co-founder Wang Chun (@satofishi) stated that Zcash’s current price surge is fundamentally speculative and narrative-driven, not supported by actual value. He highlighted several core issues: In terms of unfair issuance, 20% of each block reward during the first four years was allocated as a “founder reward” to founders, employees, advisors, and early investors—totaling 2.1 million ZEC, or 10% of the maximum supply—and this same percentage has since been continued under the guise of a “development fund.” Regarding privacy mechanisms, privacy features are optional rather than default, and the majority of tokens have long circulated on transparent addresses, leading to criticism that privacy is merely a “marketing gimmick.” In governance, longstanding management conflicts have existed between the Electric Coin Company (ECC) and the foundation; in January 2026, the entire ECC team departed, claiming they were expelled. On security, a severe vulnerability in the Orchard privacy pool was disclosed in May 2026, which theoretically allowed for the forging of ZEC with no on-chain trace; in July, the old pool was abruptly shut down and users were forcibly migrated—a move widely viewed as reactive damage control rather than a positive development. Wang Chun argued that Zcash’s presence alongside Solana and Hyperliquid on market cap rankings does not imply equivalent real-world utility; the current price reflects more of a “narrative short squeeze” than fundamental network strength.