[GRANT PROPOSAL] ACCUM v3.2+ - Fair Proof-of-Contribution Mining for Zcash
Hi Zcash Community,
My name is Andrii Dumitro, and I’m a Rust developer working on ACCUM, a new mining protocol that could benefit the Zcash ecosystem.
What is ACCUM?
ACCUM is a next-generation blockchain protocol built on Fair Proof-of-Contribution (F‑PoC) consensus. It solves classical PoW problems by distributing rewards across three independent axes of contribution:
- Shares (60%) — computational work (found shares)
- Loyalty (20%) — long-term participation in the network
- Bond (20%) — economic commitment (locked coins, min 1 ACM equivalent)
Why Zcash?
Zcash is a privacy-focused cryptocurrency that deserves a fair and decentralized mining ecosystem. Currently, Zcash mining is dominated by ASICs and large mining pools. ACCUM can bring mining back to individuals by:
- ASIC resistance — Argon2id with 256 MB memory makes ASICs economically unviable
- Reduced variance — shares system makes solo mining viable for individual miners
- Economic alignment — bond and loyalty systems encourage long-term participation
- CPU/GPU friendly — anyone with a computer can participate
Current Progress
I have been developing ACCUM for several months. The current codebase is 4,300+ lines of Rust and includes:
Argon2id PoW with cache system (10k entries, 60s TTL)
Share pool with memory limits (500 MB default) - prevents OOM attacks
Fair Proof-of-Contribution (PoCI) consensus
UTXO transaction model with secp256k1 signatures
RocksDB storage with 8 column families
RPC API (7 endpoints) for monitoring
DDoS protection, attack detection, checkpoint system
Graceful shutdown with state persistence
Equivocation slashing for double-signing protection
Automatic backup and restore system
What I’m Requesting
I am applying for a Zcash Community Grant to:
- Complete P2P network synchronization — currently 40% complete
- Implement CLI wallet with transaction signing
- Launch public testnet with 50+ nodes
- Conduct third-party security audit
- Deploy mainnet with community participation
Budget and Timeline
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Startup Funding (developer hiring) | $25,000 |
| Milestone 1: P2P Network Foundation | $15,000 |
| Milestone 2: CLI Wallet & Transactions | $15,000 |
| Milestone 3: Testnet Launch | $15,000 |
| Milestone 4: Security Audit & Fixes | $10,000 |
| Milestone 5: Mainnet Launch | $5,000 |
| TOTAL | $85,000 |
Timeline:
- Milestone 1: May 2026 — P2P network, DNS seeds, sync manager
- Milestone 2: June 2026 — CLI wallet, transaction creation, signing
- Milestone 3: July 2026 — Testnet launch, faucet, monitoring dashboard
- Milestone 4: August 2026 — Third-party security audit, fixes
- Milestone 5: September 2026 — Mainnet launch, documentation
Why Me?
- Rust developer with production experience
- 4,300+ lines of working code already delivered
- Solo developer who understands the need for a team
- Committed to open source — code will be public
- Full protocol specification available (20 sections, all formulas)
Code Repository
Questions and Feedback
I welcome any questions from the community. Please share your thoughts, concerns, or suggestions.
Thank you for considering this proposal!
Andrii Dumitro
@andreudumitro-eng on GitHub