Amber (ambimorph) for ZCG (December 2023)

Governance ZCG Elections
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Greetings! I would like to be considered for a second term on the Zcash Community Grants committee.

I take the role of community steward to heart. ZCG requires a blend of technical and business expertise, strategic vision, organisational skills, and diplomacy. I think my fellow committee members are exceptional, and it’s been an honour to work with them. I think we’ve got a good balance of those traits!

From one perspective, the past year has been highly educational and exciting. I’m inspired by the breadth and diversity of projects, individuals, and teams involved in Zcash, and it’s been a privilege to help channel resources to promising areas, and to get to know so many amazing contributors. On the other hand, those resources have been especially strained, and it’s been disappointing to have to support fewer initiatives and at lower amounts than I originally envisioned. What with low ZEC prices, loss of key community members, and the changes at ECC, the committee has had to be flexible and agile in a changing and unpredictable ecosystem. Sometimes decisions that made sense previously make less sense now.

For example, the proliferation of independently implemented wallets / user interfaces can look like a good move for decentralization when resources are plenty, but looks redundant and wasteful when it would consume the entire budget.

“Will this increase adoption?” is my lens for prioritization. I think the funds we have already directed toward education will continue to pay off in that regard, and I’m hopeful that we’re finally on our way to having a hardware wallet that supports shielding. But I think we also need to focus on simple usability: onboarding/exchange, sync times, network-level privacy.

One situation that’s changed for me since last year is my relationship to Least Authority. While I truly love the mission and the people at LA, I have resigned from the board and am exploring how to divest my financial interest, in order to free myself of perceived or contractual conflicts of interest.

Thank you for your support and encouragement!
Amber

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Do you mind expanding on this a bit as to what is motivating you to do so?

Do you think there should be a wallet built and sanctioned by one of the companies that basically manages the network?

Do you have any favorite examples of this? What’s your take on the Zcash Media grant?

Thanks

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I’m just informing the community in case my position there is considered relevant.

Wallets were the example. And to reiterate/clarify, I’m not saying past decisions were wrong, I’m saying decisions are made in context. Under the current context, I don’t think it makes sense for ZCG to fund a brand new wallet initiative, unless it has some unique value proposition in term of increased adoption. I’m not against other entities building wallets as part of their work, or existing wallets continuing what they are doing.

My position on Zcash Media is the same as it was when I wrote this in 2022:

(edit for spelling)

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Thanks for replying.

Ok? Seems odd to mention it at all if you don’t give any reasoning.

The wallet example was fairly obvious to me (not going to link my previous posts but I’ve also mentioned duplication of effort). I guess I was looking for a different example.

This also seems a bit odd to not have an updated opinion after the grantee hasn’t posted any material updates for the entire year of 2023.

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My position was included in my last election notes as part of describing past and current work that might be considered relevant, having both pros and cons. I’m just updating the record.

If you’re asking whether I have confidence in Zcash Media to come through with stellar work, the answer is yes.

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