Couple of points of critique, that reflect my views as an MGRC member, and should not be taken as representative of the entire MGRC. (On that note, the only “official” communication from the MGRC for the foreseeable future will be through meeting minutes and committee votes).
The overall flow you have proposed is very similar to the current draft proposal circulating within the MGRC (a multi-stage review process, with an initial signaling of interest in the idea, and then a more thorough secondary review).
I am in strong favor of a (partially) blinded process, certainly for the initial review. And this is something I will bring up for discussion at the next meeting.
On naming: The proposed mechanism is a single-blind process, not a double-blind one (the applicants know who they are submitting to, the committee knows they are reviewing a grant proposal).
It appears as if the MGRC is operating as if there are cost constraints despite that fact that millions, perhaps billions, will be available to administer grants, including to build the grant platform, itself.
There are very real cost constraints:
- The MGRC has no funds until the funding stream is activated.
- MGRC funds are not available all at once, they accumulate with every block (Just over 3k ZEC in November and just over 8k ZEC in December)
Both of those facts mean that the actual funds that MGRC has authority to allocate over the next few months is roughly 11k ZEC (~$600k USD)for the entire Zcash ecosystem. That pot will grow bigger, but there are actions that need to be taken now to ensure that grantees can apply and a process is in place to review then as soon as possible. Certainly one of my goals is to get to the point where we can distribute those funds to projects that will grow the ecosystem, rather than upfront invest in technologies that primarily exist to server the grant process itself.
To that end, there is already a grants system in place, with known costs that the Zcash Foundation has agreed to shoulder (see the most recent minutes), that system also has a maintenance path and room to expand/modify if and when that becomes necessary. This was ultimately one of the main reasons that decision was taken. It is not, however, a one-way door, it’s a solution that will work for the now, that can be revisited in the future.
I’m sure as the process develops there will be opportunity to expand the capabilities of the community/committee with Zcash-enabled technology.