I met with someone applying for a job at ECC this week. He mentioned that he feels like the people who work here would do so, even if they weren’t paid. I laughed. I told him that I think many who work on this project end up broken, unable to work on anything else that carries less weight.
It’s true of many across the Zcash ecosystem. We are here because we are duty-bound.
This morning, my priest shared a story about his neighbor. The man had joined the US military in WW2 and served as a tail gunner in the Pacific Theater. When the priest asked him why he joined to fight, the man responded that it was his duty. No one compelled him to join; he did so of his own volition to protect the freedom of others.
We don’t often talk of duty anymore, and yet, we are still inspired when we see others sacrifice something of themselves for the benefit of others. We want it to be true of us.
In his essay “Civil Disobedience,” Thoreau called out those sitting idly by while slavery continued in the US, and while it waged an immoral war. He states:
“There are thousands who are in opinion opposed to slavery and to the war, who yet in effect do nothing to put an end to them; who, esteeming themselves children of Washington and Franklin, sit down with their hands in their pockets, and say that they know not what to do, and do nothing; who even postpone the question of freedom to the question of free trade, and quietly read the prices-current along with the latest advices from Mexico, after dinner, and, it may be, fall asleep over them both. What is the price-current of an honest man and patriot today? They hesitate, and they regret, and sometimes they petition; but they do nothing in earnest and with effect. They will wait, well disposed, for others to remedy the evil, that they may no longer have it to regret.”
Throughout human history, we have battled for freedom against those who wish to subjugate others for their own ends. The focus of this project is protecting human agency, for which financial privacy is paramount.
In the same essay, Thoreau states, “I was not born to be forced. I will breathe after my own fashion. Let us see who is the strongest.”
But we cannot stand alone. If we have the means to build, it is our duty to build.
Like Thoreau, we choose to engage with non-violent means. We write code. We spread the word. We educate.
We cannot wait for someone else. There is no one else.
We are duty-bound.
Here’s what we built this week:
Zashi
What we did:
-
Zashi 2.4.8 released to production with support for fully shielded swaps and payments.
-
Zashi 2.4.9: built and finalized more error handling improvements, improved the syncing widget experience, and worked on UI/UX improvements for Swap experience.
-
Delivered more internal debug tools for both iOS and Android.
-
Built an internal dashboard for tracking swap and payment volumes.
-
Some of us spent last week collaborating on-site to plan and improve engineering workflows and processes.
-
Met with Coinbase and discussed their Onramp requirements. (We are temporarily removing it from Zashi so as not to compromise on users’ privacy.)
-
Finalized the UI for the Keystone Disconnect and Resync feature.
-
Finalized designs for Transparent Address Rotation and other UX/UI improvements..
-
Progressed on new store screenshots with Marketing.
What’s up next:
-
Zashi 2.4.9 with error handling improvements, UX/UI improvements, and many bug fixes should go to production next week.
-
Zashi 2.5 with Keystone follow-ups (Disconnect/Resync) and more bug fixes.
-
Review finalized designs for Ledger Hardware Wallet support, Multi-Account support, and other improvements.
-
Finalize open designs for Duress/Decoy Wallet features and prepare them for review.
-
Work on improving the product design/management and engineering processes into predictable, scalable workflows.
iOS Analytics
-
Unique Installs: 30.6k (3.6k increase)
-
Total Downloads: 35.2k (4.1k increase)
-
AppStore Rating: 4.9* (unchanged)
Android Analytics
-
Total Install Base: 14.9k (1.7k increase)
-
Total Installs (incl. Open Beta): 37k (2.7k increase)
-
PlayStore Rating: 4.29* (0.01 decrease)
Swap Volume
-
November: $187.9M
-
YTD: $273.4M
Other:
Paul participated in the Crypto for America Podcast.
Held the monthly PGP meeting.
ECC signed on to the Solana Policy Institute letter to the US Administration.
Closed Z|ECC Summit applications. Invites will go out over the next week.
Actively interviewing candidates for core engineering, partnerships, and Zashi community and support roles. All openings are listed here.
Coinmetrics released a report on Zcash.
That’s all for this week!
Dutifully,
Onward.