# Grant Application - Grassroots Marketing Team at DWeb Camp **URL:** \ **Category:** Community Grants\ **Created:** [April 23, 2026, 7:01pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/grant-application-grassroots-marketing-team-at-dweb-camp/55472 "2026-04-23T19:01:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [April 23, 2026, 7:01pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/grant-application-grassroots-marketing-team-at-dweb-camp/55472/1 "2026-04-23T19:01:24Z")
The grassroots marketing team including me, @fabacab , @cos, and Bianca, who brought you Buenos Aires devConnect, ETHDenver, ETHCC Cannes, Exxxotica marketing events is proposing to join other zcashers at DWeb camp this summer. We have submitted a formal proposal for the @ZCG ’s consideration. > > > \### Terms and Conditions > > \- \[x\] I agree to the \[Grant Agreement\](https://9ba4718…c-5c73-47c3-a024-4fc4e5278803.usrfiles.com/ugd/9ba471\_f81ef4e4b5f040038350270590eb2e42.pdf) terms if funded > \- \[x\] I agree to \[Provide KYC information\](https://9ba4718c-5c73-47c3-a024-4fc4e5278803.usrfiles.com/ugd/9ba471\_7d9e73d16b584a61bae92282b208efc4.pdf) if funded above $50,000 USD > \- \[x\] I agree to disclose conflicts of interest > \- \[x\] I agree to adhere to the \[Code of Conduct\](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/zcg-code-of-conduct/41787) and \[Communication Guidelines\](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/zcg-communication-guidelines/44284) > \- \[x\] I understand all milestone deliverables will be validated and accepted by their intended users or their representatives, who will confirm that the deliverables meet the required quality, functionality, and usability for each user story. > \- \[x\] I agree that for any new open-source software, I will create a \`CONTRIBUTING.md\` file that reflects the high standards of Zcash development, using the \[\`librustzcash\` style guides\](https://github.com/zcash/librustzcash/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md#styleguides) as a primary reference. > \- \[x\] I understand when contributing to existing Zcash code, I am required to adhere to the project specific contribution guidelines, paying close attention to any \[merge\](https://github.com/zcash/librustzcash/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md#merge-workflow), \[branch\](https://github.com/zcash/librustzcash/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md#branch-history), \[pull request\](https://github.com/zcash/librustzcash/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md#pull-request-review), and \[commit\](https://github.com/zcash/librustzcash/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md#commit-messages) guidelines as exemplified in the \`librustzcash\` repository. > \- \[x\] I agree to post request details on the \[Community Forum\](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/c/grants/33) > \- \[x\] I understand it is my responsibility to post a link to this issue on the \[Zcash Community Forums\](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/c/grants/33) 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 (@Octocat, @Octocat1) > > readymouse, fabacab, cosmojg > > \### Organization Name > > Mylo Bennett aka Ready Mouse > > \### How did you learn about Zcash Community Grants > > Previous recipient > > \### Requested Grant Amount (USD) > > $24,000 > > \### Category > > Community > > \### Project Lead > > \`\`\`project-lead.yaml > Name: Mylo Bennett @ReadyMouse > Role: Lead Community Ambassador and Project Manager > Background: Product Manager with 10+ years experience in technical project management. Active Zcash community member and regular attendee at Boston Zcash meetups and major crypto conferences. Successfully led grassroots outreach at DevConnect Buenos Aires, ETHBoulder/ETHDenver, and ETHCC Cannes. Invited to speak at ETHBoulder on private payment processors. > Responsibilities: Event coordination, community outreach strategy, workshop facilitation, budget management, and partnership development. > Socials: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mylo-mbennett/ | https://github.com/ReadyMouse | https://x.com/zReadyMouse > \`\`\` > > \### Additional Team Members > > \`\`\`team-members.yaml > Name: Violet @fabacab > Role: Technical Educator and Privacy Advocate > Background: Experienced privacy technology educator and skilled technical workshop facilitator with deep knowledge of Zcash and encrypted money concepts. Has facilitated six workshops onboarding 100+ participants from at-risk communities (sex workers, gig workers, LGBTQIA+ individuals). Made 80+ new connections during Buenos Aires outreach. Invited to speak at ETHBoulder and ETHCC Cannes on practical Zodl usage. > Responsibilities: Technical workshops, developer relations, privacy education, content creation, community engagement, and technical support. > Socials: https://bsky.app/profile/violetrollergirl.com | https://x.com/rollergirlVi > > Name: Cosmo (zcash @cos, github @cosmojg) > Role: Developer Connection > Background: Contributed to other chains and coins open source projects but Zcash convert to the private world. Neuroscience background; has collaborated with @ReadyMouse on AI and data pipeline projects. Attended ETHDenver and successfully advocated for zcash during the conference. > Responsibilities: Developer relations, privacy education, content creation, and community engagement. > Socials: https://github.com/Cosmojg | https://www.linkedin.com/in/cosmojg/ > > Name: Bianca Stone > Role: Privacy Advocate > Background: Bianca joined us at Exxxotica to teach about Zodl, and onboard new users. She did an amazing job drawing people into conversations, meeting them where they were at in explaining the technology. Bianca brings the real-world application and user stories to the team to compliment the heavy technology perspectives. > Responsibilities: Privacy education, content creation, and community engagement. > \`\`\` > > \### Project Summary > > Continuing our proven grassroots marketing approach, from DevConnect Buenos Aires Nov 2024, ETHDenver, and ETHCC Cannes, we will attend DWeb Camp 2026 in Berlin this July. DWeb Camp is a gathering at the intersection of decentralized web, privacy, and open-source technology, and represents one of the most philosophically and technically aligned audiences in the conference landscape for Zcash outreach. > Across our four prior campaigns, we aim to directly onboarded new Zodl users and hold deep technical conversations about zcash for this developer focused audience. We bring our full field-tested playbook to Berlin: hands-on Zodl demonstrations, technical privacy education, real-world use case storytelling, and daily community documentation. > > \### Project Description > > This project extends our proven grassroots marketing approach to DWeb Camp 2026 in Berlin, Germany (July 2026). Our team will: > • Attend and actively engage at DWeb Camp 2026 (Berlin, July 2026) > • Attend side events and workshops throughout the camp to spread engagement across the broader DWeb ecosystem > • Conduct hands-on Zodl wallet demonstrations and onboarding with developers, privacy advocates, and open-source contributors > • Educate attendees on CipherPay and Zcash-based e-commerce payment processing as real-world business adoption tools > • Build strategic partnerships with privacy-focused organizations and DWeb community leaders > • Create content documenting outreach efforts through social media, daily selfie posts of new Zodl users with their unified addresses, and a post-event case study > • Develop lasting relationships with developers, researchers, and community leaders, with timed follow-up to reduce post-onboarding drop-off > > The initiative continues to focus on multiple touch points with potential users, recognizing that people often need 3+ exposures before adoption. DWeb Camp expands our reach into a new, high-signal vertical of decentralization advocates while deepening our European market presence following ETHCC Cannes. > > \### Proposed Problem > > Despite Zcash's technical superiority in privacy-preserving cryptocurrency, awareness remains limited outside core crypto circles. Specific challenges include: > • Limited Brand Awareness: Many developers and privacy advocates in the decentralized web space have never encountered Zcash, or hold outdated assumptions about its capabilities and ecosystem health. > • Fragmented Touch Points: Users need multiple exposures to new technology before adoption, but current outreach lacks systematic follow-through and sustained engagement. > • Developer Pipeline Gap: The DWeb community contains exactly the open-source contributors and protocol builders who could strengthen the Zcash ecosystem. > > \### Proposed Solution > > Deploy a 4-person dedicated grassroots marketing team to DWeb Camp 2026 in Berlin, creating structured touch points and educational opportunities: > • Camp Presence: Active participation at DWeb Camp with demo devices, prepared materials, and proven engagement strategies from four prior campaigns. > • Technical Education: Conversations and workshops covering Zcash's shielded transaction architecture, zero-knowledge proofs, Zodl wallet usage, and CipherPay payment processing for real-world e-commerce. > • Developer Relations: Direct outreach to open-source contributors and protocol developers in the DWeb community to explore Zcash ecosystem collaboration. > • European Market Expansion: DWeb Camp deepens Zcash's footprint in the EU, building on warm relationships established at ETHCC Cannes. > • Content Creation: Daily Twitter documentation (@zReadyMouse) of new user onboarding (selfies + unified addresses), social media posts, and a post-event case study. > • Sustained Engagement: Leverage our cumulative contact database from previous events with timed follow-up messages to re-ignite interest and reduce post-onboarding drop-off. > > \### Solution Format > > Primary Deliverables > • Camp attendance and active engagement at DWeb Camp Berlin (July 2026) with 4 team members > • 30+ new Zodl wallet downloads / onboardings > • 150+ documented conversations and interactions > • Daily social media documentation (selfies of new Zodl users + unified addresses) on @zReadyMouse Twitter > • Trip report with metrics, photos, and engagement data posted to Zcash Community Forums within 1 week of event completion > • Post-event case study on DWeb as a Zcash adoption vertical > • Potentially collaborate with other zcashers in attendence (ZK AC Club, and other choosen representatives) > > Tracking and Metrics > • New Zodl wallet downloads per event > • Individual conversations/interactions (tracked via new phone contacts) > • New contacts and potential collaborators per event > • Social media engagement on @zReadyMouse Twitter > • Post-event follow-up response rate > > \### Dependencies > > • Health and availability of team members to travel > • DWeb Camp ticket and camping availability > • Final event schedule and programming > > \### Technical Approach > > This is primarily a marketing and community engagement project. It is not a digital marketing campaign, it focuses on in-person interactions with demonstrations of Zcash wallet functionality, hands-on onboarding assistance, technical privacy education, and relationship-building with the DWeb developer community. > > \### Upstream Merge Opportunities > > NA > > \### Hardware/Software Costs (USD) > > NA > > \### Hardware/Software Justification > > NA > > \### Service Costs (USD) > > $17,600 > > \### Service Costs Justification > > DWeb Camp 2026 — Berlin Cost Breakdown: > > Cost Breakdown (per person): > • Flights: East Coast → Berlin, round-trip: ~$2,500 per person > • Ground transport (Ubers to/from): ~$300 per person > • Incidentals: ~$200 per person > • DWeb Camp early bird ticket: ~$850 USD (€730) > • Camping accommodation: ~$390 USD (€655 per 2-person tent) > • Meal plan: ~$245 USD (€208) > • Subtotal per person: ~$4,400 > > Team Costs: > • 4 team members: $4,400 x 4 = $17,600 > > \### Compensation Costs (USD) > > $6,400 > > \### Compensation Costs Justification > > $1,600 per person, for 8-hrs for 5 days of camp at $40/hr marketing rate. > > \### Total Budget (USD) > > $24,000 > > \### Previous Funding > > Yes > > \### Previous Funding Details > > • DevConnect Buenos Aires (November 2025): Crowdfunded via community forum donations. https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/proposal-for-marketing-efforts-at-global-conferences/52231/18 > • ETHBoulder/ETHDenver (February 2026): ZCG grant ($9,000). Full trip report delivered on time. https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/grassroots-marketing-at-ethdenver-2026/54364/8 > • ETHCC Cannes / Exxxotica Chicago (Spring 2026): ZCG grant ($18,510). https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/marketing-at-ethcc-exxxotica-chicago/54832 > • Berlin Blockchain Week (June 2026): ZCG Grant ($63,820) upcoming. https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/grant-application-marketing-at-berlin-blockchain-week-2-day-event-with-webzero/55110 > > \### Other Funding Sources > > No > > \### Other Funding Sources Details > > \_No response\_ > > \### Implementation Risks > > Weather/Travel Disruptions: Flights may be delayed or canceled; accommodation availability may change. > Mitigation: Book refundable options where possible; build buffer time into schedule. > > Lower Than Expected Turnout: Fewer people may engage than anticipated. > Mitigation: DWeb Camp's curated, invitation-based format means a higher-signal audience even if total numbers are smaller than trade shows. Our experience shows consistent demand for Zcash education at privacy-aligned events. > > Team Availability: Team members may have competing obligations. > Mitigation: Clear advance planning; roles are distributed and not single-point-of-failure. > > > \### Potential Side Effects > > Post-Onboarding Drop-Off: Onboarded users may not remain active beyond initial download. > Mitigation: Collect contact info for follow-up; create welcoming social media posts with unified addresses; pre-compose timed follow-up messages to re-ignite interest and address friction after first contact. > > \### Success Metrics > > Deliverables: > • Camp attendance (July 2026) with 4 team members > • 30+ new Zodl wallet downloads > • 150+ documented conversations > • Daily social media documentation on @zReadyMouse Twitter > • Trip report posted to Zcash Community Forums within 1 week of event completion > • Post-event case study on DWeb as a Zcash adoption vertical > > \### Startup Funding (USD) > > $24,000 > > \### Startup Funding Justification > > Pre-event funding is preferred to allow booking of flights and accommodation at best rates, acting as good stewards of ZCG resources. > > \### Milestone Details > > \`\`\`milestones.yaml > Single Milestone for startup funding. > User Stories: > • "As a DWeb developer, I want to understand how Zcash's shielded transactions work compared to other privacy technologies, so I can make informed decisions about integrating privacy-preserving payments." > • "As a privacy advocate at DWeb Camp, I want to see a live Zodl wallet demonstration, so I can understand the real-world usability of Zcash for everyday transactions." > • "As an open-source contributor, I want to learn about Zcash's development ecosystem and grant programs, so I can explore contributing to or building on the protocol." > > Deliverables: > • Camp attendance (July 2026) with 4 team members > • 30+ new Zodl wallet downloads > • 150+ documented conversations > • Daily social media documentation on @zReadyMouse Twitter > • Trip report posted to Zcash Community Forums within 1 week of event completion > • Post-event case study on DWeb as a Zcash adoption vertical > > Acceptance Criteria: > • Trip report includes photos, metrics (downloads, conversations), and new user testimonials > • Social media documentation published daily during the event > • Forum post live within 1 week of camp conclusion > \`\`\` > > \### Supporting Documents > > \`\`\`files.yaml > • DWeb Camp Request for Proposals: https://x.com/i/status/2036510106808893654 > • ETHCC Cannes / Exxxotica Chicago grant & trip report: https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/marketing-at-ethcc-exxxotica-chicago/54832 > • ETHDenver trip report: https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/grassroots-marketing-at-ethdenver-2026/54364/8 > • DevConnect Buenos Aires crowdfunding: https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/proposal-for-marketing-efforts-at-global-conferences/52231/18 > \`\`\` Our previous efforts: - ETHCC Cannes / Exxxotica Chicago grant & trip report: [Marketing at ETHCC + Exxxotica, Chicago](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/marketing-at-ethcc-exxxotica-chicago/54832) - ETHDenver trip report: [Grassroots Marketing at ETHDenver 2026 - #8 by fabacab](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/grassroots-marketing-at-ethdenver-2026/54364/8) - DevConnect Buenos Aires crowdfunding: [Proposal for Marketing Efforts at Global Conferences - #18 by readymouse](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/proposal-for-marketing-efforts-at-global-conferences/52231/18) Cheers, Mylo ---
**Author:** ![ZCG](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/zcg/32/33712_2.png) [@ZCG](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/ZCG)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2026, 1:18pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/grant-application-grassroots-marketing-team-at-dweb-camp/55472/2 "2026-05-01T13:18:26Z")
@readymouse at the most recent meeting, ZCG voted to approve this proposal. Congratulations! Please check your forum inbox for a direct message from FPF with important next steps, including a link to the Milestone Payment Request Form and your unique validation code for submitting payment requests. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2026, 4:02pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/grant-application-grassroots-marketing-team-at-dweb-camp/55472/3 "2026-05-02T16:02:59Z")
Yay! Thanks so much for believing in our team again! I’m excited along with @fabacab and @cos to join @ryan.taylor, @squirrel and @Kenzo at the event. Anyone else going?! ---
**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:** [July 7, 2026, 2:32pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/grant-application-grassroots-marketing-team-at-dweb-camp/55472/4 "2026-07-07T14:32:54Z")
We are preparing to fly out today, anyone else joining at dweb? We’ll be rocking our zcash shirts, talking about tech, and handing out our signature “Protection is ZECsy” condoms. If folks can’t find us organically,@fabacab has a talk on Saturday to talk about Zodl for everyday use, [How Sex Workers Are Using Zcash for Financial Freedom](https://talx.dod.ngo/dwebcamp-2026/talk/RB3PD9/). The team will be there to support, and answer questions in the crowd. From Berlin Blockchain Week. Left to right: Violet, Mylo, Justine (not coming to camp), Cosmo. ![signal-2026-06-20-03-51-26-261-5](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/original/3X/8/b/8b65ad64ef0fd43eb00ef236f534cca8d7200ebd.jpeg) Thanks @ZCG for believing in this team for another trip. ---
**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:** [July 16, 2026, 12:39am UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/grant-application-grassroots-marketing-team-at-dweb-camp/55472/5 "2026-07-16T00:39:50Z")
Hello friends, @fabacab , @cos and I just got back from [DWeb Camp](https://dwebcamp.org/), the Internet Archive’s decentralized web gathering, held in a German forest for the first time. We joined about six hundred people living in a field together for the better part of a week. It was a nice break from the traditional city venue conferences, and a chance to slow down and connect. There is some irony in the builders of decentralized technologies coming to a centralized place, but we need human handshakes and laughter just as much as Ethernet and DNS to connect us. We met a woman day one, as tenting neighbors, we exchanged brief “So what brings you to camp?”. We mentioned financial privacy, but didn’t expand in the moment as we both unpacking our bags and headed to dinner. But each day we saw her again and again, at breakfast or at the pool, our paths crossing between workshops. At some point we exchanged numbers, as we wanted to keep the connection alive and soon she got curious about zcash. She came to Vi’s workshop, and I sat right next to her as we walked through ZODL download and each step of the app. She loved the slow, step-by-step instructions and clear explanations for WHY we were using zcash over other coins. She needed a personal connection to trust, and steady reassurance each step of the journey. This is our WHY for doing what we do. There is no way to rush this, and the woods of Germany was the place to do it. ![tents_night](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/original/3X/4/f/4fd09c668189db9e1d859cb87b46494f79ce8c10.jpeg) **We were not trying to hand out the most swag at the party. We are trying to build relationships in a community, and expand the community over time.** Violet @fabacab gave a 10 minute lightning talk and then a 1.5 hour practical Zodl workshop; hands on, wallets out, recorded by the ZK AV Club run by @ryan.taylor . The workshop kept picking up people who wandered past and stopped to listen, which is the best possible signal at an event like this. ![vi_cute_face_workshop](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/original/3X/c/5/c5972572b42c4fbb4e763a7d2e1b0aaed37856e3.jpeg) ## Stats - **81 new contact cards saved** across the team, meaning phone numbers exchanged to stay connected - **37 reconnections** people we had already met somewhere on the circuit - **21 attendees** at @fabacab 's 10 minute lightning talk - **10+ attendees** at @fabacab 's 1.5 hour practical Zodl workshop, growing as people stopped on their way past - **23 new Zodl downloads,** hands on during the workshop and beyond - **~150 Zcash condoms** handed out, always inside a conversation Small disappointment: @squirrel and @kenzo ended up not making it to camp, and so we did not get to connect with them in person. The 37 reconnections should not be dismissed merely as repeats to our outreach. These are people we had met once before and now actually know: shared meals, long walks, an argument about proof of work that ran past midnight. Berlin was 900 people through the door in three days, many of whom we saw again to deepen those relationships. Camp was five days of bumping into the same people over and over until the conversation got past the introduction. This is community building. **Our method:** We sat at a new table every single meal, which put us in front of 2 to 4 new people per sitting across 3 full days and 2 half days. The camp then does the compounding for you. Meet someone at breakfast and you will see them again at a session, at the fire, or in the coffee line. We also attended workshops of our peers and after-dinner social events. ![opening_ceremony](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/original/3X/d/1/d1c9add108461bd069c318d026162f3cf6de09f9.jpeg) ## Impact Summary I have written in past reports that it usually takes about three touchpoints before someone changes their mind and acts on it. What I want to add this time is that a touchpoint is not a pitch, it’s a person getting to know us. Rebecca was hired to help us check guests in at the [Zcash Privacy Späti](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/grant-application-marketing-at-berlin-blockchain-week-2-day-event-with-webzero/55110/19). She had never heard of Zcash, and she thought crypto was mostly a scam. On our way out of Berlin, we reconnected for one last dinner before our flight… 1. **Before the Späti.** Hired help. Crypto is mostly a scam. 2. **After the Späti.** She has made friends with a few crypto educators. Fine, it is not a scam, but she has no interest in engaging with it herself. 3. **After dinner in Berlin, the night after camp.** She listened to us talk, excitedly and at length, about camp, the workshops, and the people we met. She starts asking questions. She sits down for a short Zodl demo, and now she was ready to listen and learn. 4. **What she still needs:** Probably one more connection point, or a concrete reason to onboard, like splitting a check with one of us, before she actually downloads and tries it. She did not see an ad for a private payment processor, or an encrypted money meme that changed her mind. She made friends, and then got curious. That is the whole mechanism, and it took three days of Spati and a dinner out to get her from “scam” to “show me”. **The mechanism is normalization, not persuasion.** An attendee at @fabacab 's workshop said he was far more willing to use Zcash now that he knew other people use it _\*daily\*_. His fear had never been technical; it was that being the only Zcash user in a room signals you are up to something. Hearing that ordinary people transact with it every day made it feel safe. You cannot deliver that with a pitch. It only comes from watching a community exist. **Reputation travels ahead of us now.** Pascal walked up to @fabacab to ask about a friend who cannot get a German bank account, before he even knew who she was, because he had already heard she was the person to ask. Somebody vouched for her when she was not in the room. That only happens once you have spent enough time with people that they talk about you to their friends. He got useful, practical, expert advice from a person who relies on her own expertise to financially exist, and her advice did in fact point him and his friend-in-need towards a solution they were not previously familiar enough to explore. This is the invaluable virtuous circle of adoption fueled by in-person relationship building that no amount of code or online exposure can replace. ## Connections of Note **ZK AV Club:** They recorded @fabacab 's workshop, and we spent real time talking about how our work fits together. They archive the field’s major conversations. We build community and relationships in person. The two efforts run alongside each other well: showing up to the same events means our work has a record, and their archive gets another good conversation. We talked through their upcoming plans, Zcon in Cancún especially, and we both want to keep finding the events where it makes sense to show up together. **The Internet Archive** (major sponsor of the camp): @readymouse shared a long conversation about the quiet crisis in archiving technical knowledge. The discussion: if Discord is where a community chats, fine, nobody needs to archive small talk. But Discord is increasingly where communities _\*solve technical problems\*_, and it is login-gated and hostile to crawlers. So as scientific and programming communities drift off open forums, wikis, Reddit, and Stack Exchange, into these walled spaces, we lose the ability to archive, query, and surface the record of how problems were actually solved. A generation of debugging knowledge is being written into rooms that cannot be indexed and will not survive. This is very much a self-reliance problem, and it is the sort of thing this camp exists to notice. **Other builders of the free internet:** We enjoyed meals with developers from Nym, Nostr, the AT Protocol, and the Decentralized Identity Foundation. These are the people building the rest of the stack we depend on. Zcash is the money layer of a decentralized internet; it does not work as an island, and these are the folks laying the roads around it. **Two Amsterdam locals:** I met two people who live in Amsterdam and are happy to point us at the real spots when we get there, the cafés and restaurants locals actually go to rather than the tourist traps. One knows a tour guide they could recommend. Nothing formal, but it takes some of the guesswork out of the guided tour idea in our [Amsterdam proposal](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/grant-application-zecsy-team-marketing-at-cypherpunk-week-in-amsterdam/56509/2). **Ethereum Foundation:** @cos spent time with Felix, tech lead on the official EF wallet. Felix agrees that the tradeoffs of programmability may make it a poor fit for Zcash, which is a useful data point given the ongoing conversation here. They also covered algocoins, how AI has reshaped Ethereum’s development process, and the EF’s recent turn toward privacy, including plans for private attestation of blocks. I see these conversations as friendly, water cooler conversations between technological neighbors, not working on the same project but we certainly live in the same ecosystem. **Bluesky:** @cos talked with John (CTO) about the recent money printing bug, and about his view that metrics ruin events. His read was that we threw a good event during Berlin Blockchain Week Späti in spite of less wallet downloads than expected. **Zcash Foundation:** @cos connected with John, who compared and contrasted the EF’s private attestation plans to Zcash’s private mining. @cos, John, Felix, and Enrique also got into Enrique’s multiplayer game emulator running on ATproto, and John explained how Arya is borrowing netcode from the game he is working on to improve Zcash. Felix floated using ZK proofs to validate high scores, which is either a joke or a grant application. **BREAD Cooperative:** Both me and @cos connected with Josh on a partnership with Bitrefill and Blockspäti, and on our mutual friend Connor, who is working with Tachyon Labs on the Tachyon upgrade. Post-quantum came up here too, as it did in several other conversations of @cos 's over the week; it seems to be genuinely top of mind for people right now. ![airport_team](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/original/3X/5/b/5bcecba58bcfe4c477672dc82f3e16a2a7cab444.jpeg) We deeply appreciate the @ZCG community grant committee’s support of our work and contributions. ## A note on the “Z” Not really a DWeb finding. It is a pattern I keep hitting at European events, and DWeb is where I heard it stated most plainly. **The Problem:** The Latin “Z” was painted on Russian military vehicles in the invasion of Ukraine, most likely as a unit marking to prevent friendly fire. It did not stay tactical. Pro-invasion Russians adopted it as a civilian emblem, on billboards, merch, and social media, and the Kremlin folded it into official propaganda. Opponents of the war call it the “zwastika.” [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z\_(military\_symbol)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z%5C_(military_symbol)) **Reactions:** 1. **Pro-war Russians.** To them the Z is _\*positive\*_. It is a badge of support for the invasion. 2. **Ukrainians, and anti-war Russian and Belarusian émigrés.** To them it is the mark of an invading army, and the reaction is visceral. The second group is large, they live in the European cities where we run events and they have an acute, non-theoretical need for censorship-resistant money. They are close to our ideal user base, and they flinch at our letterform. **In Zcash’s defense:** Zcash launched in 2016; the military association dates to February 2022. The problem is collision, not intent, we understand this. **Our Response:** I am not asking for a rebrand and I have no complete fix to propose. One mitigation is simply to ensure that European-focused events adopt a fuller design of “Zcash” rather than the “Z” money symbol on its own. Using “Zcash” in full may reduce the instinctual flinch that occurs with a plain “Z” collision. The propaganda “Z” is also sometimes in a square box, so Zcash should avoid encasing it as such. For now, I want it on the record that this comes up unprompted, from people who otherwise like the project. Note: All our reports can be found at [ZECsy\_Team\_Reports - Google Drive](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/188HE73mhQvLuIKn8Xs3Jye1-JnqXsJCZ?usp=sharing) ---
**Author:** ![elzz-ux](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/elzz-ux/32/39987_2.png) [@elzz-ux](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/elzz-ux)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2026, 8:09am UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/grant-application-grassroots-marketing-team-at-dweb-camp/55472/6 "2026-07-16T08:09:48Z")
I enjoyed reading this. Well done to this team. First time I’m reading about the Z influence ad related to the Russian-Ukraine war, truly it’s something to be considered, and like you’ve rightly stated, Zcash has been hefr before all that. Again, good job to this team