Application Owners
Organization Name
Zecfi Dao LLC
How did you learn about Zcash Community Grants
I am an old ambassador
Requested Grant Amount (USD)
15000
Category
Infrastructure
Project Lead
Name: jacob Feldman
Role: Founder
Background: Operations
Responsibilities: ALL
Additional Team Members
Name: Jacob Feldman
Role: Founder
Background: Operations
Responsibilities: ALL
Project Summary
ZecFi Capital is an on-chain digital asset treasury governed by the ZECFI token. The treasury’s core objective is to accumulate Zcash (ZEC) and compound that position over time through automated yield strategies and systematic buybacks.
All fees generated from ZECFI trading are routed directly into the treasury, where they are programmatically allocated into predefined buckets, deployed into lending protocols to earn yield, and recycled into ZECFI buybacks. This creates a self-reinforcing loop: treasury growth → increased yield → increased ZECFI buybacks → long-term demand reinforcement.
ZecFi Capital is designed to evolve into a fully autonomous, self-sustaining Zcash DAO treasury with no discretionary fund control and no reliance on centralized intermediaries.
Project Description
ZecFi Capital addresses a common failure mode in DAO treasuries: passive asset accumulation without a sustainable, automated strategy to grow and defend value over time.
Rather than holding idle assets or relying on manual treasury management, ZecFi Capital enforces a deterministic capital strategy:
-
Fees flow into the treasury automatically
-
Assets are allocated by fixed percentages
-
Allocated assets are deployed into yield-generating protocols
-
Yield is used to reinforce the governance token through buybacks
This model transforms trading activity into a long-term capital engine aligned with Zcash accumulation/Ecosystem advancment.
Current Production Status
-
Governance Token: ZECFI (live)
-
Treasury: Live, publicly verifiable wallets
-
Fee Routing: Automated
-
Allocation Logic: Automated
-
Yield Deployment: Scripted, partially deployed
-
Buybacks: Active
-
ZEC Accumulated: 3+ ZEC in ~60 days
-
ZECFI Supply Impact:
-
~7.5% of supply burned
-
~11% locked
Current infrastructure is running on a self-hosted server environment, which has reached capacity and requires an upgrade to support long-term reliability and additional services (Zcash node + light wallet server).
Core Treasury Architecture
Fee Capture
-
All ZECFI trading fees are automatically routed to the treasury
-
No manual intervention required
-
Deterministic Allocation
Treasury inflows are split into fixed buckets:
-
15% USDC – Development and operational costs
-
(website, servers, maintenance, updates)
-
65% ZEC – Long-term Zcash accumulation
-
20% ZECFI – Buybacks to reinforce demand
-
Yield Generation
-
ZEC and USDC are deployed into lending protocols
Yield accrues directly to the treasury
- No yield is distributed to individuals
Buyback Loop
-
Yield is periodically converted into ZECFI
-
ZECFI is burned or locked for future burn
-
Supply reduction reinforces long-term demand
Current State vs Target State
Current State (≈75% Automated)
-
Fee routing → automated
-
Treasury allocation → automated
-
Asset swaps → automated
-
Yield deployment → scripted but not fully live
-
Buyback execution → partially automated
Target State (Fully Autonomous)
-
Yield deployment fully automated
-
Yield harvesting automated
-
Buybacks triggered programmatically
-
No manual treasury operations
-
System operates as a self-sustaining Zcash DAO treasury
Once complete, ZecFi Capital functions as a Zcash-denominated autonomous treasury (ZAT).
Proposed Problem
Most DAO treasuries suffer from:
-
Manual fund management
-
Discretionary control by founders or multisigs
-
Idle assets with no compounding strategy
-
Governance votes that do not enforce execution
-
Lack of transparency around treasury behavior
These issues lead to misaligned incentives, governance capture, and long-term decay of treasury value.
Proposed Solution
Rules-Enforced Treasury
-
Allocation percentages fixed in code
-
No arbitrary withdrawals
-
All actions follow deterministic logic
Governance Without Custody
-
ZECFI holders govern parameters, not wallets
-
Governance controls rules, not keys
-
Treasury remains non-custodial
Yield-Driven Sustainability
-
Treasury growth compounds over time
-
Buybacks scale with treasury yield
-
Demand reinforcement is organic, not inflationary
Transparency by Default
-
Treasury addresses publicly labeled
-
All activity verifiable on-chain
-
Supply changes provable and auditable
Solution Format
ZecFi Capital will be delivered as a combination of production software, on-chain infrastructure, and public documentation.
The primary deliverable is a fully automated, on-chain digital asset treasury governed by the ZECFI token and designed to accumulate and compound Zcash (ZEC) over time. The system consists of live treasury wallets, automated fee routing, deterministic asset allocation, yield deployment, and systematic buybacks that reinforce long-term demand for ZECFI.
Core deliverables include:
-
Live treasury infrastructure with publicly verifiable on-chain balances
-
Automated allocation of trading fees into predefined buckets (ZEC, ZECFI buybacks, USDC operations)
-
Yield-generating deployments of ZEC and USDC into lending protocols
-
Automated harvesting of yield and execution of ZECFI buybacks
-
Public-facing treasury dashboard and transparency reports
-
Governance documentation describing rules, constraints, and treasury behavior
Supporting deliverables include:
-
Technical documentation explaining treasury mechanics and automation logic
-
Deployment and operations documentation for infrastructure
-
Security and risk disclosures for token holders and the public
The end result is a self-sustaining, autonomous Zcash-focused treasury that operates continuously without discretionary control, with all actions verifiable on-chain.
Dependencies
Technical Dependencies
-
Solana (for ZECFI token & automation)
-
DEX liquidity pools
-
Lending platforms for ZEC and USDC
-
Zcash infrastructure (node + light wallet server)
Infrastructure Requirements
-
Upgraded production server
-
Reliable RPC providers
-
Monitoring and alerting
-
Secure key management
Future Dependency
-
Migration of treasury logic into audited Solana smart contracts
-
Removal of server-side trust assumptions
Technical Approach
ZecFi Capital uses a rules-based, automation-first architecture that minimizes trust assumptions and human intervention.
Architecture Overview
-
ZECFI is issued on Solana and traded on decentralized exchanges
-
All trading fees are automatically routed to treasury wallets
-
Treasury logic enforces fixed allocation percentages:
-
15% USDC for development and operational costs
-
65% ZEC for long-term accumulation
-
20% ZECFI for buybacks and supply reduction
Automation Pipeline
-
Fee Capture
Trading fees flow automatically from liquidity pools into the treasury. -
Deterministic Allocation
Incoming funds are programmatically swapped into ZEC, ZECFI, and USDC according to fixed parameters. -
Yield Deployment
ZEC and USDC are deployed into external lending protocols to earn yield.
Yield accrues directly to the treasury. -
Yield Harvesting & Buybacks
Earned yield is periodically harvested and converted into ZECFI buybacks, which are burned or locked for future burn.
Current State
-
Fee routing and asset allocation are live and automated
-
Yield deployment and harvesting scripts are completed and partially tested
-
Buybacks are active but not yet fully automated end-to-end
Target State
-
100% automated treasury operations
-
No manual fund management
-
Treasury logic migrated into audited Solana smart contracts
-
Server infrastructure upgraded to support reliability and Zcash services (full node + light wallet server)
Tooling & Infrastructure
-
Solana smart contracts (future trustless migration)
-
DEX liquidity pools
-
External lending platforms
-
Self-hosted server infrastructure with monitoring
-
On-chain transparency via public wallet labeling and dashboards
This approach results in a fully autonomous, self-reinforcing Zcash treasury where growth, yield, and governance incentives are aligned by design.
Upstream Merge Opportunities
would love to migrate this all on zec down the line if possible. na for now.
Hardware/Software Costs (USD)
2500
Hardware/Software Justification
ZecFi Capital requires an upgraded production server with sufficient storage, reliability, and performance to support continuous treasury automation and Zcash infrastructure.
The server upgrade (300–500 GB SSD) is necessary to reliably host:
-
ZecFi treasury automation and monitoring services
-
Backend services supporting allocation, yield deployment, and buybacks
-
A Zcash Zebra full node and light wallet server for long-term ecosystem support
-
Logging, backups, and monitoring to ensure uptime and transparency
Current infrastructure has reached capacity and cannot safely support these workloads without risk of downtime or data loss. This upgrade ensures operational stability, security, and scalability as treasury activity increases.
Service Costs (USD)
12500
Service Costs Justification
Service costs cover specialized external services required to safely and responsibly complete the project.
These include:
-
Smart contract development and review to migrate treasury logic on-chain
-
Third-party security audits to identify and mitigate smart contract vulnerabilities
-
Legal services related to DAO structure, compliance considerations, and risk minimization
-
Trademark and intellectual property protections
-
Security tooling and penetration testing where applicable
These services are critical to minimizing technical, legal, and operational risk and to ensuring the treasury becomes trustless, secure, and sustainable over the long term.
Compensation Costs (USD)
0
Compensation Costs Justification
I do not want any compensation. I only want funding to build.
Total Budget (USD)
15000
Previous Funding
No
Previous Funding Details
na
Other Funding Sources
No
Other Funding Sources Details
na
Implementation Risks
-
Smart contract vulnerabilities (future migration)
-
Yield protocol risk
-
Liquidity volatility
-
Infrastructure downtime
Mitigations include conservative allocation, public disclosure, gradual rollout, and third-party audits prior to full trustless deployment.
Potential Side Effects
ZecFi Capital relies on automated treasury logic, which introduces smart contract risk. Undiscovered vulnerabilities or exploits could impact treasury assets, making staged deployment, audits, and emergency controls essential.
Yield deployment also carries external protocol risk, including insolvency or exploits of lending platforms. This is mitigated through conservative allocations, monitoring, and governance-controlled adjustments.
Automated buybacks may affect market dynamics during periods of low liquidity or high volatility. Rate limits and liquidity-aware execution are used to reduce unintended market impact.
Finally, governance participation and regulatory uncertainty present ongoing risks, which are addressed through transparency, clearly defined constraints, and decentralization of infrastructure and control.
Success Metrics
Treasury Performance
-
Continued ZEC accumulation
-
Increasing yield over time
-
Sustained buybacks without inflation
Automation
-
100% of treasury operations automated
-
Zero manual intervention required
Transparency
-
Treasury balances always verifiable
-
Buybacks provable on-chain
-
Community can independently audit system behavior
Startup Funding (USD)
15000
Startup Funding Justification
Start up is ongoing; funding will help speed up.
Milestone Details
Milestone: 1 – Trustless Treasury Automation & Infrastructure
Amount (USD): $5000
Expected Completion Date: 2026-03-31
User Stories:
- "As a DeFi user, I want the treasury to operate automatically and transparently so that funds cannot be misused"
- "As a ZECFI holder, I want predictable treasury behavior so that long-term value is reinforced"
- "As a governance participant, I want treasury rules enforced in code so that no single party has control"
Deliverables:
Core Treasury Automation:
- End-to-end automated routing of ZECFI trading fees into the treasury
- Deterministic allocation enforcement (15% USDC, 65% ZEC, 20% ZECFI)
- Automated swapping into allocation buckets
- Automated deployment of ZEC and USDC into lending platforms
- Automated yield harvesting from lending platforms
- Automated ZECFI buybacks funded by yield
- Rate-limited, liquidity-aware buyback execution
Production Infrastructure:
- Upgraded production server infrastructure
- Treasury monitoring and alerting
- Public labeling of treasury wallets and transactions
Acceptance Criteria:
- Treasury operates without manual fund movements
- Yield is successfully deployed, harvested, and used for buybacks
- Allocation percentages remain enforced at all times
- 30+ consecutive days of uninterrupted automated operation
- All treasury activity is publicly verifiable on-chain
Milestone: 2 – Governance Activation & Transparency
Amount (USD): $5000
Expected Completion Date: 2026-04-30
User Stories:
- "As a ZECFI holder, I want to participate in governance so that treasury parameters can evolve transparently"
- "As a new user, I want clear documentation so that I understand how ZecFi Capital works"
Deliverables:
Governance Framework:
- Definition of governable parameters and hard constraints
- Proposal creation and voting process documentation
- Governance execution rules (what governance can and cannot do)
Transparency & Education:
- Public treasury dashboard (balances, allocations, buybacks, burns)
- Plain-language documentation explaining treasury mechanics
- Risk disclosures and governance scope documentation
Acceptance Criteria:
- Governance rules publicly accessible
- At least one governance proposal completed
- Treasury dashboard viewable by third parties
- Community members can independently verify treasury behavior
Milestone: 3 – Smart Contract Migration & Security Hardening
Amount (USD): $5000
Expected Completion Date: 2026-06-15
User Stories:
- "As a DeFi user, I want the treasury secured by audited smart contracts so that trust assumptions are minimized"
- "As a ZECFI holder, I want assurance that the treasury cannot be exploited"
Deliverables:
Smart Contract Migration:
- Migration of treasury logic from server automation to Solana smart contracts
- On-chain enforcement of allocation, yield, and buyback rules
- Emergency pause and safety mechanisms implemented
Security & Assurance:
- Third-party smart contract audit
- Public audit report published
- Remediation of all critical and high-severity findings
- Incident response and monitoring documentation
Acceptance Criteria:
- Treasury logic enforced entirely on-chain
- Audit report publicly available
- Zero unresolved critical vulnerabilities
- No discretionary access to treasury funds remains