Sovright Launches Argos Tool to Help Early Zcash Users Recover Stuck Funds

Sovright, a nonprofit successor organization linked to former Electric Coin Company Zcash development, has released a wallet recovery tool called Argos to help early Zcash users recover funds that became stuck after the older ZEC Wallet Lite stopped being maintained in 2022. According to Odaily, Sovright executive board chair Michelle Lai said Argos can restore affected assets if users still have the old wallet’s mnemonic phrase. She said the issue involves only certain shielded addresses, making it difficult to precisely quantify the scope, though she estimated the amount involved is substantial and mainly affects early long-term holders. Lai described the problem as a long-standing unresolved technical issue in the community that is not highly visible but has continued to erode user trust. Sovright said it currently has three core members, all from the former Bootstrap system. The team is also testing a privacy-focused Zcash mining pool aimed at reducing hash rate concentration and improving network decentralization. The organization said its prior governance structure underwent major adjustments, and Electric Coin Company employees collectively left to form a new entity, Zcash Open Development Lab (ZODL), which has received support from institutions including Paradigm and a16z and is focused on developing Zcash-related products. Sovright said it is not in opposition to ZODL and will continue focusing on addressing long-standing issues in the Zcash ecosystem, including wallet usability and infrastructure stability.