Aleph Zero Breaks Silence After Six-Month Legal and Leadership Crisis

26th November 2025 – After nearly six months of silence, the Aleph Zero Foundation has finally addressed the community. A new update on November 25 explained the reasons behind the blackout and revealed a path forward. The silence followed major internal disruption and ongoing legal action.

Leadership Shakeup and Collapse

In May 2025, Aleph Zero’s co-founder and de facto CEO, Adam Gągol, resigned abruptly. He had worked closely with Cardinal Cryptography, a core development partner. His sudden departure, combined with allegations of mismanagement, immediately triggered turmoil inside the project.

The AZERO token then plunged 56% and reached a historic low of $0.035. The market wiped out nearly $200 million in value. Soon after, several team members left to build a new blockchain project called “Common.” Meanwhile, negotiations between the Aleph Zero Foundation and Cardinal Cryptography broke down, which intensified the crisis even further.

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Silence Rooted in Legal Dispute

The Foundation remained silent due to legal constraints. Shortly after the fallout, it filed a claim against Cardinal Cryptography. However, because the dispute involved international parties, the legal process progressed slowly. Only recently did Swiss courts formally notify Cardinal of the claim. As a result, this ongoing legal situation limited Aleph Zero’s ability to communicate publicly from May through November.

Meanwhile, the team transitioned the project into a “hibernation mode.” They focused on preserving essential infrastructure, reducing operational costs, and ensuring the mainnet stayed live. To achieve this, they shut down non-essential cloud services and migrated key systems to more efficient server setups.

Q4 Update Reveals Restart Plan

The Foundation’s November 25 post on X marked its return to public dialogue. The update acknowledged the silence and laid out steps taken behind the scenes.

Key updates include:

• All critical mainnet systems were transferred and kept online.
• Server costs were reduced by dismantling AWS and other unused services.
• Multiple developers and firms have been identified to update the network’s codebase and add RISC-V support.
• Testnet deployment and stability checks will begin after confirming time and budget estimates.
• DAO transition efforts are underway, with community input invited on a new Telegram channel.

The post made clear that DAO planning remains in its early stages. It encouraged community discussions on governance, funding, and transparency.

Legal Action Against Cardinal

The Foundation confirmed that it filed a legal claim against Cardinal Cryptography after failed negotiations. It did not share further details but emphasized that legal proceedings had finally advanced.

No further comment will be made until the Swiss courts resolve the issue or the parties reach a settlement.

Cardina’s current and Aleph Zero’s ex CEO Adam Gągol made things interesting by issuing a statement of his own in the comments.

Road Ahead

Aleph Zero’s recent update drew limited attention, but it successfully reignited debate within the community. Additionally, the team partnered with idOS to support privacy-first KYC verification in both DeFi and real-world asset use cases—signaling ongoing development despite recent turbulence.

The AZERO token continues to show sharp volatility, with forecasts hovering between $0.009 and $0.013. Moving forward, the project’s progress will likely depend on three key pillars: resolution of its legal dispute, momentum around DAO formation, and developer-driven upgrades.

Despite the uncertainty, Aleph Zero now aims to shift from crisis toward a decentralized and stable future. The Foundation believes it has already built the groundwork to make that transition possible.

The Talk

Real voices. Real reactions.

KOLsMediaCommunity

LOW

@Aleph__Zero I have to say it is quite disappointing to see legal filings being used as a PR strategy to pad a quarterly update. While I cannot discuss the details, Cardinal Cryptography is fully prepared to defend against this claim. We are entirely confident in our position and that we

"https://t.co/Fpb9AxJyyn"— @

Adam Gągol

@GagolAdam

about 8 hours ago

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