# Canadian Zcash Community and red·bridge public testnet launch **URL:** \ **Category:** Community Grants\ **Created:** [November 2, 2026, 11:57pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/canadian-zcash-community-and-red-bridge-public-testnet-launch/58780 "2026-11-02T23:57:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kate.stapes](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/kate.stapes/32/48365_2.png) [@kate.stapes](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/kate.stapes)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2026, 11:57pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/canadian-zcash-community-and-red-bridge-public-testnet-launch/58780/1 "2026-11-02T23:57:26Z")
Hey Zcash community! I have submitted a grant proposing the launch of a Canadian Zcash chapter across 2 concurrent events in Toronto and Montreal. These events would also serve as the launch for the [red·bridge](https://www.rbra.net/) public testnet, [a ZCG funded Zcash ecosystem project](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/red-bridge-is-preparing-for-launch-you-can-participate/55840) to not only showcase a novel use case on Avalanche but to also get attendees interacting with the tech directly. **Background** Toronto and Montreal serve as the blockchain hubs of Canada, with specialized engineering schools like Polytechnique Montréal and École de Technologie Supérieure as well as the University of Waterloo, the birthplace of Ethereum. We also have long running community meetup groups like [Web3 MTL](https://www.web3mtl.ca/), [Web3 TO](https://www.web3to.ca/), [Bitcoin Bay](https://bitcoinbay.ca/), as well as the [Superteam Canada](https://superteam.ca/) offices headquartered in Toronto among many others. [Consensus 2025](https://consensus2025.coindesk.com/) was held in Toronto, [The Blockchain Futurist Conference](https://futuristconference.com/) is held every August and [Toronto Tech Week](https://www.torontotechweek.com/) attracts an international crowd every year. There is a vibrant and active blockchain community across the two cities, which I believe presents a great opportunity to formally introduce Zcash and bring together privacy fans while supporting the launch of the red·bridge public testnet to ensure maximum participation and adoption. **What I’m Proposing** The first event will be held in downtown Toronto on December 9th in a co-working space for 50 attendees, featuring holiday themed Zcash catering with drinks and snacks, a professional photographer, custom Zcash Canada and red·bridge swag and social media photo ops, all with the aim of: - Introducing the Canadian community to the Zcash ecosystem - Educating attendees on the mechanics of Zcash - Promoting support for the red·bridge public testnet launch - Encouraging ZODL downloads and use - Generating online engagement and excitement for the meetup series and future events and updates. This event will feature an “Intro to Zcash” talk lead by myself, followed by a panel on privacy including Kit Sturgeon CEO and Founder of red·bridge. The evening will conclude with an hour and half of networking. [Iryna Chechova](https://ca.linkedin.com/in/iryna-chekhova) who has run Toronto based and international events for Metis, The Blockchain Futurist Conference, Crypto Chicks, and many more will be assisting with the event organization and day of logistics. The second and larger event will be held in Montreal on December 11th for 100 curated attendees across the community as well as institutions, enterprise and banking to support the launch the red·bridge public testnet. I have secured the promotional support of [Web3 MTL](https://www.web3mtl.ca/), Montreals longest running and largest blockchain community, and the organizational support of [Sam Drissi](https://ca.linkedin.com/in/sdrissi), Founder of [Human IP](https://humanip.org/events/) who has been running events in Montreal for years and who hosts the [Montreal Blockchain and AI Conference](https://luma.com/zollibcb). This event will feature catering, bar service as well as custom Zcash Canada and red·bridge merch, social media photo opportunities and professional photography. This event will serve as the official launch event for the red·bridge public testnet and will feature an “Intro to Zcash” talk led by myself as well as an “Intro to red·bridge” talk and demo led by Kit Sturgeon where he will introduce red·bridge and walk through the testnet while promoting next steps and how to get involved. The evening will wrap up with two hours of networking. The goals for the event will match the ones listed above. **Deliverables** 1. 150 attendees across both event in Toronto and Montreal. 2. 50 ZODL wallet downloads across the events 3. Social media coverage across both events with a target of a combined 30k impressions supported a custom hashtag, professional photography and a professionally shot and edited recap video 4. Onboarding participants to red·bridge to support their public testnet launch **Background** For those who I’ve never met, hi! I’m Kate Stapleton and I’ve been working in blockchain for 10+ years now mainly in events and technical community building. I was the VP of the [Blockchain Education Network](https://www.blockchainedu.org/) where I oversaw 15+ international chapters and coordinated travel to conferences and hackathons; I was the Global Head of Community for [Axelar](https://www.axelar.network/) where I organized their global presence across events, hosted workshops and talks, gave keynotes and oversaw ecosystem growth; was the Global Head of Events and Community for [Inco](https://www.inco.org/) where I organized and attended events like ETHCC, Token 2049, and more; recently I was the Head of Events and Ecosystem for[Fhenix](https://www.fhenix.io/) where I ran their global event schedule with partners like Arbitrum, the Ethereum Foundation, EY, OpenZeppellin and more. I have represented Zcash at 2 events thus far with the ZECsy team (an ongoing but unrelated and completely separate grant to this one)- during the [Cypherpunk Week in Amsterdam](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/grant-application-zecsy-team-marketing-at-cypherpunk-week-in-amsterdam/56509) as well as in NJ for Exxxotica and in DC for the DC Privacy Summit. You can see those full [reports here](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/grant-application-zecsy-community-building-12-months-of-zcash-on-the-ground/56890/27). Thanks for taking the time to read through my proposal and I hope to be able to start building out the Canadian Zcash ecosystem 🇨🇦 **Supporting Links:** You can view the [Full proposal on Github](https://github.com/ZcashCommunityGrants/zcashcommunitygrants/issues/527) ---
**Author:** ![strahncryptography](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/strahncryptography/32/46464_2.png) [@strahncryptography](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/strahncryptography)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2026, 12:28am UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/canadian-zcash-community-and-red-bridge-public-testnet-launch/58780/2 "2026-11-03T00:28:15Z")
> [@kate.stapes](#): > > 1. 50 ZODL wallet downloads across the events How is this verified? If it can’t be, it shouldn’t be a deliverable? ---
**Author:** ![kate.stapes](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/kate.stapes/32/48365_2.png) [@kate.stapes](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/kate.stapes)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2026, 6:15am UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/canadian-zcash-community-and-red-bridge-public-testnet-launch/58780/3 "2026-11-03T06:15:19Z")
Hey! In the past what I’ve done with the ZECsy team for the ZODL wallet download deliverables is taking a selfie/photo of the wallet download with every new user. I will do the same this time and add them all to a public google drive folder. I have 2 folks helping out day of for Toronto and Montreal, listed on the grant to also collect this info. Kit will also report the testnet activity sign ups and engagement he receives and I will post a full retro here after the event wraps. ---
**Author:** ![readymouse](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/readymouse/32/39041_2.png) [@readymouse](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/readymouse)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2026, 6:25am UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/canadian-zcash-community-and-red-bridge-public-testnet-launch/58780/4 "2026-11-03T06:25:50Z")
I fully support this grant. @kate.stapes whas been a valuable member of the zcash team at Cypherpunk Week in Amsterdam [(full report)](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/grant-application-zecsy-team-marketing-at-cypherpunk-week-in-amsterdam/56509/5). She supported the booth, talked about zcash and also recorded videos during the event. She has the ability to create quality content as well as organize logistics for an outstanding event. ---
**Author:** ![strahncryptography](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/strahncryptography/32/46464_2.png) [@strahncryptography](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/strahncryptography)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2026, 6:26am UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/canadian-zcash-community-and-red-bridge-public-testnet-launch/58780/5 "2026-11-03T06:26:50Z")
Not a fan of downloads as a metric since they don’t really demonstrate any commitment, but yes, given @mrkit2u’s involvement, and other endorsements, I would trust this proposal. Can’t endorse, however.