Cypherpunk Policy Dinner (“CPD”) ZCG Anchor Sponsorship

Community Grants Applications
1

I’ve submitted a ZCG grant request for $25,000 for ZCG to serve as the anchor sponsor of the Cypherpunk Policy Dinner on October 21, 2026, during DC Privacy Summit week in Washington, DC.

This is structured as an event sponsorship request with the full $25,000 requested upfront as a startup payment, rather than as a milestone-based project grant.

The request builds on the 2025 ZCG-supported PGP* / Pretty Good Policy for Crypto events, but takes a more direct Zcash advocacy approach in DC. ZCG would receive 15 tickets for Zcash community members, supporting sponsors would be limited to Zcash ecosystem entities, and any sold tickets would be payable exclusively in ZEC.

The dinner will be broadly cypherpunk-themed while keeping clear links to Zcash, financial privacy, and privacy-preserving technology. Any proceeds over direct event expenses will go to Project Glitch, which is serving as the lead organizer and program partner, while PGP* provides in-kind and administrative support.

For convenience, here is the full grant request:

Grant Application — Cypherpunk Policy Dinner (“CPD”) ZCG Anchor Sponsorship

Terms and Conditions

  • I agree to the Grant Agreement terms if funded.

  • I agree to provide KYC information if funded above $50,000 USD, if applicable.

  • I agree to disclose conflicts of interest.

  • I agree to adhere to the Code of Conduct and Communication Guidelines.

  • I understand all grant deliverables and final reporting will be validated and accepted by their intended users or their representatives.

  • I agree to post request details on the Zcash Community Forum.

  • I understand it is my responsibility to post a link to this issue on the Zcash Community Forum after this application has been submitted so the community can give input. I understand this is required in order for ZCG to discuss and vote on this grant application.

Application Owners

@paulbrigner

Organization Name

PGP for Crypto, LLC

How did you learn about Zcash Community Grants?

Through prior work with Electric Coin Co., Zcash Community Grants, PGP* / Pretty Good Policy for Crypto, and the Zcash community.

Requested Grant Amount (USD)

$25,000

Requested Payment Structure

Startup payment only.

This is an event sponsorship request, not a milestone-based project grant. ZCG is asked to provide the full $25,000 upfront as the anchor sponsorship payment for the Cypherpunk Policy Dinner.

This structure is consistent with how event sponsorships are typically handled: the sponsor commits upfront, receives the sponsorship benefits described below, and receives a final report and expense reconciliation after the event.

The $25,000 startup payment is not additional to the total budget. It is the requested disbursement structure for the full $25,000 grant.

Category

Event Sponsorships

Project Lead

Name: Paul Brigner

Role: CPD Coordinator; PGP* for Crypto Founder and Administrative Lead

Background: Paul is the Chief Policy & Regulatory Officer at Zodl. Paul has worked on cryptocurrency policy in Washington, DC since 2017 and has organized the PGP* / Pretty Good Policy for Crypto gatherings in DC since 2022. He also founded and has helped organize the DC Privacy Summit.

For this project, Paul will coordinate the Cypherpunk Policy Dinner (“CPD”), provide PGP* in-kind and administrative support, and coordinate with Project Glitch, ZCG, Zcash ecosystem sponsors, and other event stakeholders.

Responsibilities:

  • Coordinate the CPD grant request, budget, sponsorship framework, and administrative process.

  • Serve as PGP* administrative lead.

  • Coordinate with Project Glitch, which is serving as lead organizer and program partner.

  • Ensure ZCG receives the anchor sponsor benefits described in this application.

  • Coordinate ZEC-only paid ticketing, if any tickets are sold.

  • Coordinate final reporting, expense reconciliation, and disclosure of net proceeds.

Additional Team Members

Name: Mike Orcutt

Role: Project Glitch / Lead Organizer and Program Curator

Background: Mike is a founding editor of Project Glitch and has extensive experience as a science, technology, and crypto journalist and editor.

Responsibilities:

  • Support CPD program development and guest experience.

  • Help shape the dinner’s policy conversation and connection to the broader DC Privacy Summit week.

  • Coordinate with the Project Glitch team on narrative, program quality, and post-event follow-up.

Name: Michael Reilly

Role: Project Glitch / Lead Organizer and Program Curator

Background: Michael is an editor at Project Glitch with deep experience translating complex technical and policy topics for broader audiences.

Responsibilities:

  • Support CPD program development and guest experience.

  • Help ensure the dinner’s cypherpunk framing is serious, policy-relevant, and accessible to policymakers and policy influencers.

  • Support the connection between CPD programming, the DC Privacy Summit, and Project Glitch’s broader work.

Name: Lucy Harley-McKeown

Role: Project Glitch / Lead Organizer and Program Curator

Background: Lucy is an editor at Project Glitch and a journalist focused on business, technology, and crypto.

Responsibilities:

  • Support CPD program development, narrative framing, and guest experience.

  • Help connect the dinner to Project Glitch’s broader work on privacy, crypto, and the future of the internet.

  • Support post-event narrative, reporting, and follow-up planning.

Project Summary

The Cypherpunk Policy Dinner (“CPD”) will be an invitation-oriented dinner for approximately 100 people on October 21, 2026, the evening before the third annual DC Privacy Summit.

This grant request asks Zcash Community Grants (“ZCG”) to serve as the anchor sponsor of CPD with a $25,000 upfront sponsorship.

CPD builds upon the 2025 ZCG-supported PGP* / Pretty Good Policy for Crypto events and the DC Privacy Summit, but it takes a more direct approach to Zcash advocacy in Washington, DC. The PGP* breakfast series has historically used a “soft advocacy” model: build trust with policymakers and policy professionals first, then steer the discussion toward privacy-preserving technologies and Zcash. CPD will be more explicitly Zcash-forward while still maintaining the credibility, seriousness, and cross-community openness that have made PGP* and the DC Privacy Summit valuable.

The dinner will be broadly cypherpunk-themed, but the programming, sponsor structure, and branding will have clear links to Zcash. Supporting sponsors for the event will be limited to Zcash ecosystem entities, so the event’s sponsor identity and branding are clearly associated with Zcash rather than diluted across the broader crypto industry.

At the same time, the program will remain open to aligned crypto projects, privacy advocates, policy influencers, policymakers, and other participants whose presence can help advance the case for financial privacy, privacy-preserving cryptography, and cypherpunk values in public policy.

ZCG will receive 15 tickets to allocate to Zcash community members. Many other tickets will be allocated to sponsors, invited VIPs, policymakers, policy influencers, aligned crypto projects, privacy advocates, and other strategically relevant guests. Any tickets sold will be payable exclusively in Zcash / ZEC. Ticket price is TBD.

The dinner will be held at Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab, 750 15th Street NW, Washington, DC, an elegant power-dining destination in the heart of the capital, practically next door to the White House. The attached contract reserves the Gigi Full room for Wednesday, October 21, 2026, from 6:10 pm to 9:10 pm, for 100 guests, with a maximum capacity of 110 and a $12,000 food and beverage minimum. A $2,000 deposit has been paid to secure the reservation.

All proceeds over and above direct event expenses will go to Project Glitch, which is serving as the lead organizer and program partner for CPD. PGP* for Crypto will provide in-kind support and administrative support; PGP will not receive any compensation for its support.

Project Description

1. Background

PGP* / Pretty Good Policy for Crypto launched in Washington, DC in 2022 to create a recurring, high-quality forum for crypto policy discussion, with a particular focus on privacy-preserving technologies and the role they can play in addressing financial policy challenges.

Since then, PGP* has developed a trusted audience of crypto policy professionals, industry leaders, government stakeholders, privacy advocates, and technologists. In 2024, the DC Privacy Summit launched as a full-day event dedicated to privacy technology, cryptography, policy, and the future of financial privacy. In 2025, ZCG supported PGP* events and the DC Privacy Summit through a prior event sponsorship grant.

CPD is intended to extend this work into a more focused, high-signal, Zcash-forward format.

2. Why CPD?

Washington, DC policy engagement often happens most effectively in curated rooms with the right mix of policymakers, policy staff, industry experts, technologists, journalists, advocates, and community leaders. A dinner format allows for a different kind of conversation than a public panel, breakfast briefing, or conference session.

CPD is designed to create a serious but memorable environment where the Zcash community can advance a clear message:

  • Financial privacy is normal.

  • Privacy-preserving technology is essential.

  • Cypherpunk values remain relevant to public policy.

  • Zcash is one of the most important real-world implementations of privacy-preserving digital money.

CPD will be a venue for more direct Zcash advocacy in DC, while still using the trusted, policy-aware, and technically serious style that PGP* and Project Glitch have developed through prior convenings.

3. Why ZCG Anchor Sponsorship?

ZCG anchor sponsorship would allow the Zcash community to make CPD a clearly Zcash-linked policy moment in Washington, DC.

This is not intended to be a generic crypto dinner with one Zcash logo among many. The sponsorship structure will be designed so that:

  • ZCG is recognized as the anchor sponsor.

  • Supporting sponsors are limited to Zcash ecosystem entities.

  • Event branding is clearly linked to Zcash.

  • ZCG receives 15 tickets for Zcash community members.

  • Any sold tickets are payable exclusively in ZEC.

  • The dinner program has clear links to Zcash, financial privacy, cypherpunk values, and policy engagement.

  • Aligned crypto projects and privacy advocates can participate as guests or discussion contributors without diluting the Zcash-centered sponsor identity.

4. Relationship to Project Glitch and PGP*

Project Glitch is serving as the lead organizer and program partner for CPD. PGP* for Crypto will provide in-kind support and administrative support.

Any proceeds over and above direct event expenses will go to Project Glitch. This will be disclosed transparently in the final grant report, along with a summary of expenses, sponsor support, ticket sales, and net proceeds.

This structure reflects the operational reality of the event:

  • ZCG serves as anchor sponsor.

  • Project Glitch leads program and guest-experience development.

  • PGP for Crypto* provides administrative and in-kind support.

  • Zcash ecosystem entities may participate as supporting sponsors.

  • Zcash community members receive a dedicated ticket allocation through ZCG.

  • Any paid tickets are sold exclusively for ZEC.

5. Venue

The dinner venue has been reserved at Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab in Washington, DC.

Contracted details:

  • Venue: Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab

  • Address: 750 15th Street NW, Washington, DC

  • Date: Wednesday, October 21, 2026

  • Tentative Time: 6:10 pm – 9:10 pm

  • Room: Gigi Full

  • Event type: Dinner

  • Expected guests: 100

  • Maximum capacity: 110

  • Food and beverage minimum: $12,000

  • Deposit: $2,000

  • Additional charges: 4% admin fee, 10% DC sales tax, and 20% gratuity

The venue is well suited to the event’s purpose: elegant, central, policy-relevant, and located in the heart of the capital.

Proposed Problem

Zcash has one of the strongest technical and philosophical cases for financial privacy, but the policy environment in Washington, DC still needs more direct, consistent, and credible engagement from Zcash-aligned voices.

Policymakers and policy influencers often hear about crypto through enforcement, illicit finance, speculative trading, or generalized industry lobbying. They hear less often from people who can clearly explain why financial privacy is a public good, why privacy-preserving cryptography matters, and why Zcash should be understood as a serious tool for privacy-preserving digital money.

PGP* and the DC Privacy Summit have helped build a foundation for this conversation. The opportunity now is to use that foundation for a more direct Zcash advocacy moment in DC.

CPD addresses this gap by creating a curated, high-quality, Zcash-forward policy dinner during DC Privacy Summit week.

Proposed Solution

ZCG will serve as the anchor sponsor for the Cypherpunk Policy Dinner, a curated dinner for approximately 100 people during DC Privacy Summit week.

The dinner will:

  • Bring together Zcash community members, Zcash ecosystem entities, policymakers, policy influencers, aligned crypto projects, privacy advocates, and selected VIPs.

  • Present a serious, Zcash-linked cypherpunk policy narrative.

  • Make Zcash the central sponsor identity for the dinner.

  • Provide ZCG with 15 tickets for Zcash community members.

  • Limit supporting sponsors to Zcash ecosystem entities.

  • Use Zcash / ZEC exclusively for any sold tickets.

  • Generate post-event reporting for ZCG and the Zcash community.

  • Direct any proceeds above direct event expenses to Project Glitch.

Solution Format

One in-person dinner event:

Cypherpunk Policy Dinner

October 21, 2026

Washington, DC

Approximate attendance: 100 people

Venue: Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab, 750 15th Street NW, Washington, DC

The format is expected to include:

  • Guest arrival and reception.

  • Cocktail reception.

  • Seated dinner.

  • Opening remarks.

  • ZCG anchor sponsor recognition.

  • Zcash-linked cypherpunk policy framing.

  • Curated dinner conversation.

  • Optional brief remarks or moderated discussion.

  • Post-event follow-up and reporting.

Final program details are TBD and will be refined in coordination with Project Glitch, PGP* for Crypto, ZCG, Zcash ecosystem stakeholders, and other relevant participants.

ZCG Anchor Sponsor Benefits

ZCG will receive:

  • Anchor sponsor recognition for the Cypherpunk Policy Dinner as well as recognition as a sponsor of the overall DC Privacy Summit.

  • 15 tickets to allocate to Zcash community members.

  • Prominent recognition in invitation materials, event materials, and appropriate onsite branding.

  • Recognition in opening remarks.

  • Recognition in post-event reporting.

  • Alignment of the event’s sponsor identity around Zcash.

  • A final report summarizing attendance categories, ticket allocation, sponsor support, expenses, any ZEC ticket sales, and net proceeds.

All branding and venue materials will be subject to venue rules and practical production constraints.

Supporting Sponsor Policy

Supporting sponsors for CPD will be limited to Zcash ecosystem entities.

The purpose of this restriction is to ensure that the event’s sponsor identity is clearly linked to Zcash rather than diluted across the broader crypto industry. The event may include guests from aligned crypto projects, privacy advocacy organizations, policy institutions, academia, journalism, and government, but supporting sponsorship opportunities will remain Zcash ecosystem-focused.

Supporting sponsor benefits and recognition levels are TBD and will be developed consistently with ZCG’s anchor sponsor status.

Ticketing Policy

ZCG will receive 15 tickets to allocate to Zcash community members.

Other tickets will be allocated among:

  • Zcash ecosystem sponsors.

  • Invited policymakers and policy influencers.

  • Project Glitch / PGP* guest priorities.

  • Aligned crypto projects and privacy advocates.

  • VIPs and strategic guests.

  • Potential paid attendees, if tickets are sold.

Any tickets sold will be payable exclusively in Zcash / ZEC. Ticket price is TBD.

The final report will summarize ticket allocation by category, subject to privacy and guest-list sensitivity considerations. Sensitive individual-level guest-list details will not be published in public grant materials.

Sponsorship Deliverables and Reporting

Because this is an event sponsorship, the requested $25,000 should be paid upfront as a single startup payment. There are no separate milestone-based disbursements.

ZCG’s sponsorship deliverables include:

  • ZCG (“Zcash”) anchor sponsor recognition for CPD as well as recognition as a sponsor of the overall DC Privacy Summit.

  • 15 tickets for ZCG to allocate to Zcash community members.

  • Zcash-linked sponsor identity and event framing.

  • Supporting sponsor policy limited to Zcash ecosystem entities.

  • ZEC-only payment for any sold tickets.

  • Recognition in invitation materials, event materials, appropriate onsite branding, opening remarks, and post-event reporting.

  • Post-event report to the Zcash community.

  • Final expense reconciliation.

  • Summary of attendance by category, subject to privacy considerations.

  • Summary of sponsor support and any ZEC ticket sales.

  • Disclosure of net proceeds, if any, directed to Project Glitch.

The final report will focus on outcomes, sponsor recognition, ticket allocation, expense reconciliation, and lessons learned. It will not publish sensitive individual-level guest-list details.

Dependencies

Key dependencies include:

  • ZCG approval and upfront sponsorship payment timeline.

  • Project Glitch programming and guest-experience planning.

  • Zcash ecosystem supporting sponsors.

  • Final ZEC-only paid ticketing process, if any tickets are sold.

  • Guest-list and VIP coordination.

  • Dinner schedule coordination with other DC Privacy Summit week activities.

  • Final budget and expense reconciliation.

Technical Approach

N/A.

This is an event sponsorship grant, not a software development grant.

Upstream Merge Opportunities

N/A.

Hardware/Software Costs (USD)

0

Hardware/Software Justification

N/A.

Service Costs (USD)

$25,000

Service Costs Justification

ZCG funds will support direct event costs for the Cypherpunk Policy Dinner, including:

  • Venue deposit.

  • Venue food and beverage charges.

  • Admin fee, sales tax, and gratuity.

  • Event materials and Zcash-linked branding.

  • Guest management and check-in materials.

  • Program materials.

  • Administrative expenses directly related to executing the dinner.

  • Final reporting and reconciliation.

The attached venue contract includes a $12,000 food and beverage minimum, a $2,000 deposit, and additional charges for admin fee, DC sales tax, and gratuity. Actual final costs will depend on final guest count, menu selections, sponsor support, ticket sales, and other event needs.

Preliminary Budget

Category Estimated Amount Notes
Venue food and beverage minimum, admin fee, DC sales tax, and gratuity support $16,080 Based on $12,000 F&B minimum plus 4% admin fee, 10% DC sales tax, and 20% gratuity. Final venue bill may vary based on menu and guest count.
Additional menu, guest-count, or venue overage reserve $4,500 Supports final menu decisions, actual consumption, or event costs above minimum.
Zcash-linked event branding, sponsor materials, and signage $2,000 Subject to venue rules and final sponsor plan.
Guest management, check-in, ticketing workflow, and administrative materials $1,500 Includes planning and operational materials; any paid tickets will be ZEC-only.
Program materials, remarks preparation, and event production support $1,000 Includes program-related materials and production coordination.
Contingency for event costs, accessibility, production, or unforeseen service charges $900 Final use to be disclosed in reconciliation.
Total $25,000

The $2,000 venue deposit has already been paid and will be applied to the final venue bill. It is part of the venue cost support above, not an additional charge on top of the final bill.

Compensation Costs (USD)

0

Compensation Costs Justification

No direct team compensation is requested from this ZCG grant.

PGP* for Crypto will provide in-kind and administrative support. Project Glitch is serving as lead organizer and program partner. Any proceeds over and above direct event expenses will go to Project Glitch and will be disclosed in the final report.

For clarity, “proceeds” means net funds remaining after direct event expenses are paid or reserved, taking into account ZCG sponsorship, any supporting sponsorship, and any ZEC ticket sales. The final report will disclose the final expense reconciliation and any net proceeds transferred to Project Glitch.

Total Budget (USD)

$25,000

Previous Funding

Yes.

Previous Funding Details

In 2025, ZCG supported PGP* / Pretty Good Policy for Crypto events and the DC Privacy Summit through a prior event sponsorship grant. That grant helped sustain the PGP* breakfast series and DC Privacy Summit as forums for privacy-aware crypto policy discussion in Washington, DC.

This Cypherpunk Policy Dinner request builds on that prior work, but the current request is distinct: it is a $25,000 request for ZCG to serve as the anchor sponsor of a more directly Zcash-forward policy dinner in Washington, DC.

The prior PGP* grant used a broader “soft advocacy” model. CPD will take a more direct Zcash advocacy approach by making ZCG the anchor sponsor, limiting supporting sponsors to Zcash ecosystem entities, centering Zcash-linked branding, and requiring any paid tickets to be purchased exclusively in ZEC.

Other Funding Sources

Yes.

Other Funding Sources Details

Additional support may come from:

  • Supporting sponsors, limited to Zcash ecosystem entities.

  • Sponsor or VIP ticket allocations.

  • Ticket sales, if any.

Any tickets sold will be payable exclusively in Zcash / ZEC. Ticket price is TBD.

All proceeds over and above direct event expenses will go to Project Glitch. PGP* for Crypto will provide in-kind and administrative support.

Implementation Risks

Risk: Venue costs exceed initial assumptions

The venue contract establishes the room, date, time, guest count, maximum capacity, and food and beverage minimum, but final costs may vary based on menu selections, final guest count, service charges, taxes, gratuity, and other event requirements.

Mitigation: Maintain a budget tracker, confirm menu and guarantee requirements in advance, and provide a final expense reconciliation to ZCG.

Risk: Sponsor structure becomes diluted

If non-Zcash sponsors are added, the dinner could become a generic crypto event rather than a clearly Zcash-linked policy moment.

Mitigation: Supporting sponsors will be limited to Zcash ecosystem entities. This preserves the Zcash-linked identity of the dinner and prevents the sponsor identity from being diluted.

Risk: Guest list does not achieve the desired policy impact

The event’s value depends heavily on having the right mix of Zcash community members, policymakers, policy influencers, privacy advocates, aligned crypto projects, journalists, and VIPs.

Mitigation: Project Glitch and PGP* will coordinate a curated guest strategy that focuses on policy relevance, strategic value, Zcash ecosystem participation, and guest-experience quality.

Risk: Private dinner format creates perception concerns

A private dinner may be perceived as exclusive or closed if not handled carefully.

Mitigation: The grant application, sponsor structure, and final report will be transparent to the Zcash community. ZCG will receive 15 tickets for Zcash community members. The final report will summarize attendance categories, ticket allocation, sponsor support, expenses, and net proceeds while avoiding publication of sensitive individual-level guest-list details.

Risk: ZEC-only ticketing creates operational friction

Requiring any sold tickets to be paid exclusively in ZEC could create operational issues for some potential attendees.

Mitigation: Any paid ticketing process will be kept simple and tested before tickets are sold. Ticket price and payment workflow remain TBD. Complimentary and sponsor/VIP ticket allocations will reduce reliance on public ticket sales.

Risk: Programming is too generic or not sufficiently linked to Zcash

A broadly cypherpunk-themed dinner could lose the direct Zcash advocacy purpose if programming is too general.

Mitigation: The program will remain broadly cypherpunk-themed but will have clear links to Zcash, financial privacy, privacy-preserving cryptography, and policy advocacy. Supporting sponsor identity will be limited to the Zcash ecosystem.

Risk: Upfront sponsorship requires clear post-event accountability

Because the request is for a full upfront sponsorship payment rather than milestone-based disbursements, ZCG and the community should still have a clear way to evaluate the event.

Mitigation: The sponsorship deliverables, ticket allocation, final report, expense reconciliation, ZEC ticket-sales summary, sponsor support summary, and net-proceeds disclosure will be documented for ZCG and the Zcash community.

Potential Side Effects

We do not anticipate material negative impacts.

The primary concern is that a private dinner could be perceived as exclusive or insufficiently transparent. We will mitigate this by making ZCG’s anchor sponsorship clear, reserving 15 tickets for Zcash community members, transparently reporting outcomes to the Zcash community, and using the dinner to advance the public-good case for financial privacy.

A secondary concern is that an explicitly Zcash-forward policy dinner could be perceived as narrower than the broader DC Privacy Summit. We view that distinction as a feature, not a bug: CPD is intended to be a more direct Zcash advocacy event, while remaining open to aligned crypto projects, policymakers, privacy advocates, and policy influencers.

Success Metrics

Success will be measured by:

  • Dinner held on October 21, 2026.

  • Approximately 100 attendees.

  • ZCG recognized as anchor sponsor.

  • 15 tickets made available to ZCG for Zcash community members.

  • Supporting sponsors limited to Zcash ecosystem entities.

  • Any sold tickets payable exclusively in ZEC.

  • Strong attendance from relevant policy influencers, policymakers, Zcash ecosystem participants, aligned crypto projects, privacy advocates, and VIPs.

  • Clear Zcash-linked program framing.

  • Zcash-linked branding and sponsor identity.

  • Post-event report posted to the Zcash Community Forum.

  • Final expense reconciliation provided.

  • Net proceeds, if any, transferred to Project Glitch and disclosed in the final report.

Because this is a curated policy dinner, some attendee details may need to remain private. The final report will therefore focus on outcomes, categories of participation, sponsor recognition, ticket allocation, expense reconciliation, and lessons learned rather than publishing sensitive individual-level guest-list details.

Startup Funding (USD)

$25,000

Startup Funding Justification

The full $25,000 grant request should be paid upfront as a startup payment because this is an event sponsorship, not a milestone-based project grant.

Upfront sponsorship funding will allow the organizers to:

  • Confirm and maintain the venue reservation.

  • Plan the dinner around ZCG as the anchor sponsor.

  • Develop Zcash-linked event branding and sponsor materials.

  • Coordinate supporting sponsorship from Zcash ecosystem entities.

  • Build the invitation, RSVP, and ticketing process.

  • Reserve 15 tickets for ZCG to allocate to Zcash community members.

  • Coordinate guest experience, program framing, and post-event reporting.

This startup payment is the full grant request. It is not an additional amount beyond the $25,000 total budget.

Milestone Details

No milestone-based disbursements are requested.

This is a sponsorship grant. ZCG is asked to provide the full $25,000 as a startup payment upon approval. Sponsor benefits, deliverables, and reporting obligations are described in the sections above, especially “ZCG Anchor Sponsor Benefits,” “Sponsorship Deliverables and Reporting,” “Success Metrics,” and “Startup Funding Justification.”

Supporting Documents

  • Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab event contract.

  • $2,000 deposit receipt.

15 Likes
Paul Brigner for ZCG (June 2026)
Nothing More American
Nothing More American
Zcash Community Grants Meeting Minutes 5/11/2026
Zcash Community Grants Meeting Minutes 05/25/2026
Why now? ZODL update on Zcash
2

The Markdown table is broken. Could you fix that by removing the excess newlines? It’s a bit hard to read this way.

3

Nice :+1:t2:

…

1 Like
4

There is nothing cyberpunk or cypherpunk about a $1666 / plate dinner in Washington DC.

In fact, this might take the cake for the most un-cyberpunk / un-cypherpunk idea on this forum EVER!

The doublespeak is pure Beltway grade - (For you subjects of your government, that’s insider talk for USA Washington DC Administrators, Consultants and Lobbyist class dealings - you know, the proud people who collect taxes, make laws, put brown people in cages they don’t like, decide who to bomb, whatever pays the bills… all in service of your will).

Let the Winklevoss Cyberjocks and their bought and paid for Chief Policy & Regulatory Officer at Zodl foot the bill for the Fois Gras or free range Zebra Mussels or whatever.

In the long run $25k isn’t the biggest funding, but I cannot fathom how such a well endowed company is now putting the hat out for community grants… all while taking the cyberpunk name! Because now the brand, the fake image, is valuable political and social currency.

Some actual cyberpunks are in this community… Some people actually live this shit, outside the beltway, outside the hypocrisy…

Let’s be clear:

Is lobbying. They are asking for money for lobbying in Washington DC, USA.

Think about “the optics” - Zcash Community Grants sponsors DC lobbying at the behest of a private company, funded by billionaires. This is not a made up scenario. This is literally what they are asking for.

Expensive underwriting for the already paid speech of a corporate, for-profit entity

What are the principles that Zcash Community Grants wishes to support and nurture? Are they in line with this proposal?

As for you, please just go make a fucking theme park? You could sell cybertrucks there. Or a private disco (feat. Kid Rock?) where we (hopefully) never hear about it… just for the ears of those important people who run the systems we all swim in.

Otherwise some actual, real cyberpunks might punk you out–publicly.

1 Like
5

Fixed. Sorry about that.

1 Like
6

Thanks for sharing your concerns. I understand the discomfort with DC policy engagement being described as cypherpunk, even though I see the value differently.

A couple factual clarifications: this grant is not on behalf of Zodl, and it is not intended to underwrite a private company’s speech. The applicant is PGP for Crypto, LLC; Project Glitch is the lead organizer/program partner; PGP is providing in-kind and administrative support; and PGP will not receive compensation. Any proceeds above direct event expenses would go to Project Glitch.

Also, the $25k request is not a $1,666/plate dinner. It is an anchor sponsorship for an approximately 100-person event, with 15 tickets allocated to ZCG for Zcash community members. The sponsor structure is intentionally Zcash-focused: supporting sponsors would be limited to Zcash ecosystem entities, and any sold tickets would be payable only in ZEC.

The goal is to create a Zcash-forward policy event in DC that makes the case for financial privacy to policymakers and policy influencers. Reasonable people can disagree about whether that is the right use of ZCG funds, but I wanted to correct the misunderstanding that this is a Zodl proposal or a corporate-funded private-company lobbying ask.

3 Likes
7

This makes it impossible to gauge to what extent the cost of the event might be covered by ticket sales. Could you provide a range or estimate? And would the ticket price depend on the grant’s approval?

Also, how many organisers/sponsors might be present? With a capacity of 100 people, minus 15 community members, organisers and sponsors that leaves maybe 50 tickets to sell?

9

Ticketing is still TBD, and I don’t want to give false precision before the sponsorship mix and guest allocation are finalized.

With approximately 100 people, the allocation needs to include the ZCG community seats, a small organizer/program team, supporting sponsor allocations if confirmed, invited policymakers and policy influencers, Zcash ecosystem participants, aligned privacy/crypto guests, and only then any paid seats. My current expectation is that paid tickets, if offered, would likely be a limited number, maybe 20 - 25.

The ticket price is not set. It may depend on the final sponsorship mix and on how many seats are available after community, sponsor, and invited guest allocations. The goal is not to maximize ticket revenue; it is to create a high-signal Zcash-forward policy event.

We are also exploring a small number of additional supporting sponsors, limited to Zcash ecosystem entities, but those are not confirmed and I do not want to count them as committed revenue.

1 Like
10

I like that its timed right with the Privacy Summit + Zcash birthday. PGP* has done good work, I encourage folks to check out some of their more popular videos on their YT. I’ve also met Paul IRL (Zeboots) and he is really easy to talk to, can tell he has experience with communication.

This is nice! Would love to hear about feedback / experiences from folks in these circles.

Overall, its not usually my cup of tea but I understand we need to build bridges, not cause divide. I support with education as a major goal :shield: :heart: :student:

7 Likes
11

My objections to this proposal are twofold.

The two are related.The worst is taking on the name of a non-commercial subculture to make money or gain influence. The second is turning to community funds for corporate (or political) goals.

Legislative goals (law making, law changing, policy prepping… police-pleasing … “lawfare”) might be aligned with some community interests. For example, some people live in the United States and must interact with USA laws.

Still, this grant would foster the technique of 'spend money to access legal privileges ’ rather than ‘be logical, moral, active, and liberty-loving to access legal privileges’. Perhaps a discussion worth having, sometime.

Can you say more about this? How do you see Cypherpunk values, so that we can all understand.

Then let me ask about Project Glitch - what is their relationship to ZODL, their funders, and PGP for Crypto, LLC ? Why are you as Chief Policy & Regulatory Officer at Zodl working on this? Why are you putting forward this grant?

What is the platform and/or talking points of Project Glitch?

So, lobbying.

Now that we have established it is lobbying, the next question is: if not corporate-funded private-company lobbying, what kind of lobbying is it?

I will gladly adjust my maths if you can provide numbers on ticket costs, other sponsors who will be filling out the budget for this, administrative costs, and related information.

Finally a few more questions of interest to me and my punk friends:
Who will be or might be invited, and among those who might be asked to pay, and who might be given a complimentary dinner to go along with the lecture or presentation? Who will hold a microphone? Will speakers have any interaction with the crowd, questions and answers? How much time will guests have to speak to each other and in what context?

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Paul Brigner for ZCG (June 2026)
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For those of you with popcorn, PGP* (Pretty Good Policy) for Crypto was launched in 2022 by Electric Coin Co, now ZODL.

I don’t know who Project Glitch are, all I could find in a couple minutes is a substack newsletter locked behind some javascript.

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I appreciate the substantive questions. I will try to answer them carefully, because I think this proposal is really about a deeper question: whether Zcash should support serious policy education in Washington, DC, and what kind of policy engagement is consistent with Zcash and cypherpunk values.

I’ll start with the organizational clarifications.

This proposal is not on behalf of Zodl. I disclosed my current role because I think affiliations should be transparent, but the applicant is PGP for Crypto, LLC. Project Glitch is the lead organizer and program partner. PGP is providing in-kind and administrative support and will not receive compensation. Any proceeds above direct event expenses would go to Project Glitch. That structure is stated directly in the grant request.

On costs and tickets, I addressed that in a previous post in this thread, so I won’t repeat all of those details here. The short version is that ticket sales are not intended to be the core funding model.

On Project Glitch: they are a team of journalists focused on improving public discourse around blockchain networks and related technologies. Their stated approach is to break down technical concepts and urgent technological questions that deserve broader public understanding. They also have a clear public ethics statement: they describe themselves as journalists, say they seek to work from facts and verifiable evidence, state that they are not currently venture-backed, and state that sponsors do not control their editorial product or event curation. That last point matters here: their role is not to produce sponsor copy; it is to help curate serious programming. (Project Glitch)

Their track record in this space is substantial. Project Glitch produced the first DC Privacy Summit and has continued to build programming around the intersection of privacy, cryptography, policy, and law. Their public description of the first Summit says it brought together leading technologists and policymakers and explored how zero-knowledge-based cryptographic systems are evolving and how privacy and compliance can coexist. (Project Glitch) The 2025 DC Privacy Summit was a focused day at USC Capital Campus with regulators, builders, cryptographers, and privacy professionals exploring cryptography and responsible policy, including topics like illicit-finance risk, compliance, digital identity, zero-knowledge proofs, and privacy-preserving technologies. (DC Privacy Summit)

The content was not superficial. The 2025 agenda included sessions such as “You Underestimate Modern Cryptography,” Matthew Green’s “The Coming Privacy Forest Fire—and How to Fight It,” a fireside chat with SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, “How to Fight the Lazarus Group,” “What ZK Can—and Can’t—Do for You,” “How to Avoid a Dystopian Digital ID System,” and “The Year Is 2030: What Does On-Chain Privacy and Compliance Look Like?” Mike Orcutt and Lucy Harley-McKeown of Project Glitch moderated multiple sessions. (DC Privacy Summit) The Summit videos are publicly archived, so people can evaluate the seriousness of the programming directly. (DC Privacy Summit)

Project Glitch’s own writing also shows the approach they bring to these issues. In announcing the second annual DC Privacy Summit, they framed the core problem as the unresolved tension between civil liberties, crypto privacy software, law enforcement, illicit-finance risk, and the chilling effect on developers building at the frontier of cryptographic privacy. They also explicitly asked whether technologies like zero-knowledge proofs could help manage risk without sacrificing user privacy. (Project Glitch) In their post-event writeup, they argued that crypto privacy discussions need more precision, not slogans, and pointed to Zcash, Monero, Tornado Cash, Samourai Wallet, Railgun, and related projects as part of a broader technical and policy landscape that deserves serious treatment. (Project Glitch)

That is the kind of credibility and editorial seriousness Project Glitch brings to this proposal.

On PGP*: the record is also public. PGP* for Crypto convenes policymakers, privacy technologists, and advocates in Washington, DC through recurring breakfast briefings focused on crypto policy, privacy, and responsible innovation. Its mission statement says the series brings together policy experts to work through digital-asset regulation and innovation, with emphasis on privacy-preserving technologies and how they challenge AML/KYC frameworks when those frameworks are applied without nuance. (pgpforcrypto.org)

The PGP* content is not just networking. The series includes policy roundtables, privacy-tech deep dives, and policy-roadmap discussions. Recent and featured PGP* topics include privacy and security, crypto token taxonomy, Coin Center policy updates, decentralization and AI, Tornado Cash and Samourai Wallet updates, crypto security and SEAL, and confidential stablecoins. (pgpforcrypto.org) The PGP* origin also matters: the name intentionally references Pretty Good Privacy, a technology with deep cypherpunk significance, and the PGP* site explains that PGP was widely used among cypherpunks for privacy protection and influenced the development of cryptocurrencies. (pgpforcrypto.org)

Before the current event series, the PGP* podcast also covered the intersection of blockchain technology, public policy, and global regulatory topics. ECC’s announcement of the podcast described it as an exploration of blockchain, policy, regulation, and how current and proposed policy approaches affect the blockchain ecosystem. (Z.Cash) The podcast later included an episode with the Project Glitch founding editors about crypto journalism, privacy, the DC Privacy Summit, and the importance of privacy in the future of the internet. (Amazon Music Unlimited)

The prior ZCG-supported PGP* application also described the strategy clearly. PGP* was launched in 2022 to raise awareness of Zcash and other privacy-enhancing protocols within Washington, DC’s policy community. It used a monthly breakfast format with lightning talks, roundtables, and expert panels to translate technical developments into policy-ready discussion. That same application described the core theme as showing how privacy-preserving technologies can satisfy financial-integrity goals without sacrificing individual autonomy, and it noted that meetings were livestreamed and archived online. (Zcash Community Forum) ZCG approved that prior proposal and requested monthly updates to keep the community informed. (Zcash Community Forum)

So when I talk about CPD, I am not asking the community to trust a vague promise. I am asking the community to evaluate a body of work: PGP* meetings, the PGP* podcast, the DC Privacy Summit, publicly archived videos, Project Glitch’s written analysis, and multiple years of convening technical and policy people around privacy-preserving technologies.

On “cypherpunk”: I understand the skepticism. A DC policy dinner with a cypherpunk theme is intentionally ironic. That is part of the hook. The point is not to pretend that a dinner near the White House is the same thing as writing code, running infrastructure, or living cypherpunk values directly. The point is to bring those values into an environment that often defaults to surveillance, institutional control, deference to incumbents, and closed-door policy assumptions.

To me, cypherpunk values include privacy, autonomy, user control, censorship resistance, skepticism of mandatory surveillance, and the use of applied cryptography to protect ordinary people. Bringing those values into DC does not mean watering them down. It means forcing a policy audience to confront them directly.

That is why I disagree with the framing that this is about “spend money to access legal privileges.” The goal is not to buy special treatment, seek a carveout, or obtain legal privileges for a company. The goal is to educate policymakers and policy influencers about why financial privacy matters, why privacy-preserving cryptography is a public good, and why Zcash deserves to be understood as one of the most serious implementations of those values.

If someone uses “lobbying” broadly to mean any policy education or advocacy in Washington, then I understand why they might use that shorthand. But that is not the same as saying this is Zodl lobbying, corporate-funded private-company lobbying, or an effort to purchase legal outcomes. That is not what this proposal is.

The CPD concept is an evolution in approach. PGP* has mostly used a soft-advocacy model: build trust, convene serious people, and consistently introduce privacy-preserving technology and Zcash into the conversation. That was especially important during a period when crypto policy was often enforcement-first and privacy tools were under intense legal and reputational pressure. Project Glitch has written directly about that policy impasse, including the tension between crypto/civil-liberties advocates and government treatment of decentralized privacy software. (Project Glitch)

CPD is more direct. It is meant to be Zcash-forward. Supporting sponsors would be limited to Zcash ecosystem entities. Any paid tickets would be ZEC-only. The program would be broadly cypherpunk-themed but clearly linked to Zcash, financial privacy, and privacy-preserving cryptography. That is the point of the proposal.

On format: the final program is still TBD, but this is intended to be a dinner conversation, not a one-way lecture. The concept includes opening remarks, ZCG anchor sponsor recognition, Zcash-linked cypherpunk policy framing, curated discussion, and time for guests to speak with one another. I expect Project Glitch to help shape the program so that it is thoughtful, serious, and not simply sponsor messaging.

I understand that some people may still disagree with using ZCG funds for DC policy engagement. That is a fair debate. My request is that the debate be based on what the proposal actually is: a Zcash-forward policy education and advocacy event built on a documented track record of PGP* and Project Glitch privacy-policy programming, not a Zodl grant, not compensation for PGP, and not an effort to purchase special legal privileges.

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@paulbrigner

Thank you for answering some questions and filling in some of the details here.

My initial response is, you are obviously a professional, skilled communicator who is able to spend their time on these kinds of messages, and craft diplomatic prose to advance your goals. I wouldn’t expect anything less from someone working for @joshs .

Because I’m not working as a professional communicator (believe it or not, I actually have to go interact with some software) - I don’t have time to lobby! Ha! This will be a relatively short reply. But I feel it’s my role here to highlight the wiggle room you’re giving yourself.

It’s doublespeak. Doublespeak is language that deliberately obscures, disguises, distorts, or reverses the meaning of words.

It’s offensive. I am most concerned with younger or less technical-politcal people, who are misled by skilled communicators.

From A Cypherpunk’s Manifesto

by Eric Hughes :

... Our code is free for all to use, worldwide. We don't much care if you don't approve of the software we write. We know that software can't be destroyed and that a widely dispersed system can't be shut down.

Cypherpunks deplore regulations on cryptography, for encryption is fundamentally a private act. The act of encryption, in fact, removes information from the public realm. Even laws against cryptography reach only so far as a nation's border and the arm of its violence. Cryptography will ineluctably spread over the whole globe, and with it the anonymous transactions systems that it makes possible.

For privacy to be widespread it must be part of a social contract. People must come and together deploy these systems for the common good. ...

My summary of this section: Cypherpunks make privacy tools and try to deploy them for the public good, they don’t care about your opinion of what they do, and finally, they associate the state (government) with violence.

Therefore, prior branding like “DC Privacy Summit” is better, leave the appropriation behind.

You, Project Glitch, whoever, should rebrand the event. I’ll talk at your supporters, the twin footnotes, later, about their support of state violence.

To frame this insanely expensive dinner as education is a stretch, though actually less offensive. I understand there to be some grey areas in practice, even though of course there’s regulations around it. I’ll leave it to the experts like you to skirt that line, but I think the term educational advocacy involves sharing facts, data, and nonpartisan analysis to help policymakers understand an issue without urging a specific action. And lobbying occurs when communication with officials explicitly or implicitly urges positions on legislation. So, here, you could educate me.

To be real. This grant we’re arguing about itself is tiny. A pittance really. The truth is, $25k is a rounding error to the very thinly veiled forces at play here. But it for me it grabbed my attention because it abused words; it used political language which is intended to mislead, or bend the truth.

I think the goal, here, overall is to rally implicit community consent and signify alignment with the way things are trending, not to change them. And it looks like people in this forum are mostly okay with this.

In the end, it is for ZCG to decide what to do with community funds, and though it’s not a perfect system, it’s the closest we have to funds allocated by and for the overall community - so I will of course respect whatever is their decision.

But words matter, values matter. I urge ZCG and younger readers to look carefully at what’s goin’ on here, and nearby.

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Thanks for taking the time to lay out the concern. I agree that words matter, and I understand why the use of “cypherpunk” deserves scrutiny.

I read the Hughes manifesto a little differently than you do. I agree that the core cypherpunk tradition is about building and deploying privacy tools, not asking the state for permission. That is fundamental. I am not claiming that a dinner in DC is equivalent to writing code, running infrastructure, or building anonymous transaction systems.

But the manifesto also says privacy is necessary for an open society, that privacy is the power to selectively reveal oneself, that privacy requires anonymous transaction systems and cryptography, and that for privacy to be widespread it must become part of a social contract. Hughes also writes:

“We the Cypherpunks seek your questions and your concerns and hope we may engage you so that we do not deceive ourselves.”

— Eric Hughes, A Cypherpunk’s Manifesto

That is the part I think is relevant here. Building privacy-preserving systems is essential, but so is helping people understand why those systems are legitimate, socially valuable, and not inherently suspect. That includes policymakers and policy influencers, many of whom currently encounter financial privacy mostly through enforcement, illicit-finance, or surveillance-oriented narratives.

So I do not see policy education as anti-cypherpunk. It is not a substitute for building. It is a complement to building, especially when the policy environment can shape whether privacy tools are misunderstood, chilled, stigmatized, or treated as presumptively illegitimate.

On the “doublespeak” point: I am not using “cypherpunk” to obscure what the event is. The proposal is explicit that this is a Zcash-forward policy dinner in Washington, DC. The irony is intentional, but not meant to mislead. The point is to bring cypherpunk values into a policy setting where those values are often misunderstood or treated with suspicion.

That is why I think the “cypherpunk” framing is fair, even if intentionally provocative. I am using it to name the values the event is meant to put in front of a policy audience: privacy, autonomy, selective disclosure, skepticism of surveillance, and applied cryptography.

That is the intended framing, and I’m taking the concern seriously as we continue to develop the program.

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This is not the first time ZCG would be supporting Pauls efforts in DC. I’ll link to my thoughts on the subject:

The difference here is where PGP was less overtly a Zcash sponsored event it was still advocating for Zcash ideals.

I think this more bold approach ( headline Zcash sponsored event) is indicative of the overall shift in attitudes towards cryptocurrency in DC. Nowadays we even have Zooko giving talks to, and receiving hand written thank you notes from, members of the SEC.

My opinion in the other thread still stands for this proposal.

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I like that we’re quoting from the same text. I encourage people to read it themselves in its (brief) entirety so they can decide what it means to them.

This quote comes after associating the state (IMO correctly) with violence.

I don’t think this quote from 33 years ago should be stretched to try to cover current policy efforts in DC, I don’t think that’s what Hughes was saying here.

Maybe not anti, but it’s a bit like having Vanilla Ice host the hip hop panel at the rock and roll hall of fame.

The central question as I see it is not whether privacy advocates, crypto, or even Zcash will be ‘lobbying’ or doing ‘policy education’ at the federal level in Washington as paid speech - that ship has sailed already with ZODL, their very very wealthy sponsors, as well as many others. The central question is whether the Zcash community (through ZCG) want to not only support this approach, but put their name up there with it.

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I want to openly express support for this proposal. I personally don’t think talking to politicians is the best thing to do as a cypherpunk, but nonetheless you need to do that. Civilization is not built by developers and salespeople alone, you need the politicians too. :robot:

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I am absolutely in favour ofthis initiative, I think this is well-spent money for visibility and policy education. While I understand aaal concern about branding it ‘Cypherpunk,’ I believe engaging DC directly is now essential for privacy tools to be legitimate.

The shift in attitude means we need to be present in these rooms, even if the framing is provocative.

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Thank you for keeping it civil despite the difference of opinions. I very much value honest difference of opinions :+1:

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I do use some sharp words, but do not resort to violence against people to get my way.

Try getting pledges like that out of the USA government.

Spoiler alert: won’t happen.*

People here are advocating courting favor with and legitimizing a racist and violent regime, on behalf of the whole community, and using community resources to this end.

Please. Don’t use the community’s name to negotiate with terrorists.

*The only pledge you’ll get is one to recite that’s been prepared for you: one nation, under god, indivisible.

Paul Brigner for ZCG (June 2026)