# A message from the Bootstrap board **URL:** \ **Category:** Governance\ **Created:** [January 16, 2026, 9:46pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/a-message-from-the-bootstrap-board/54329 "2026-01-16T21:46:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 17
**Author:** ![earthrise](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/earthrise/32/11887_2.png) [@earthrise](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/earthrise)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 11:14am UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/a-message-from-the-bootstrap-board/54329/17 "2026-01-18T11:14:25Z")
_[Speaking personally, not in my capacity as a ZF board member]_ I have a high level of trust in people on both sides of this conflict. Over the years I’ve observed _a lot_ of conflict within the Zcash community and I’ve put a great deal of thought into why it happens and how to prevent it. The pattern I’ve observed is always the same: one or more parties make a series of _errors_, another party then interprets those errors as _bad faith/malice_ and begins acting _in defense_ against what they perceive to be malicious. Those defensive actions, in turn, get interpreted as malice, which leads to more defensive actions in response, which are also interpreted as malicious. The initial series of errors turns into a self-sustaining positive feedback loop where each side perceives the other to be more and more malicious. I have never observed genuine malice from any leader in the Zcash community. Serious errors and sketchy ways of going about things, yes I have seen those, but never malice. Maybe I am just being naive and optimistic, but I hope all parties can attempt to see conflict as a self-sustaining system that even totally reasonable people can get caught up in. I encourage both sides to look for errors they may have made and own them. It’s okay to screw up. We all care about Zcash. --- _[View the full topic](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/a-message-from-the-bootstrap-board/54329)._