ZECsy Monthly Report: September 2026
Reporting period: Sep 1 to Sep 30, 2026
Milestone: Milestone 1 of 9
Grant: ZECsy Annual IRL Program, approved through nine-month milestones
1. Summary
Zcash use among sex workers and small businesses is growing on its own. We are tracking twenty providers now publicly list ZEC as a way to pay them, and two small businesses, graphic artist Angelica and Working Girls Press, began accepting ZEC; Working Girls Press ran live sales through CipherPay at our Amsterdam booth. Requests for workshops are now coming to us unprompted. A Chicago organizer who found Violet’s guides is recruiting students and a venue for an October 14 workshop, a Boston collective is offering its vetted mailing list for a November session, and workers in Ottawa have asked about workshops in their city. Our separately funded Cypherpunk Week trip to Amsterdam drew about 200 check-ins, trained apprentice Molly Simmons, and brought in the Prostitution Information Center and CryptoCanal as partners for a planned February 2027 workshop. We completed Milestone 1 and spent $30,883 of the $45,833 startup payment on team compensation and advance bookings for Exxxotica NJ, Devcon8 Mumbai, and Exxxotica Miami, and every annual deliverable is on pace.
2. Milestone status
Milestone declaration: This document serves as the report for completion of Milestone 1.
3. Deliverables tracker
Pace note: Startup funding used to plan for October and future events. Everything is on pace for completion.
4. Cumulative evidence of Zcash use
4.1 Zcash in the wild
-
Violet @fabacab maintains a list of sex workers who now publicly list that they accept ZEC (or other cryptocurrencies via Swaps in ZODL). This shows the real impact of the workshops, outreach and people using ZEC in the wild. Note: We only include workers who publicly report accepting ZEC, to respect people’s privacy and disclosure decisions. Currently 20 providers are listed.
-
Violet also maintains a BlueSky Starterpack for Zcash related accounts, who want to follow the currency. This is recommended to workers who are now interested in zcash, and want to follow updates on social media.
-
Mylo hired Angelica (@bugknife.bsky.social on Bluesky) who now accepted Zcash for graphic art and design contracts. She designed the poster for Amsterdam as well as the program insert for Exxxotica NJ.
-
We are working with Justine, owner of Apex Latex (https://www.apexlatex.com), who will be vending at the zcash booth at Exxxotica NJ as a demonstration of CipherPay’s point of sales system. We plan to work in the next month to try and integrate CipherPay directly into the site. Justine joined us in Berlin Blockchain week and is returning as a veteran for Exxxotica NJ.
4.2 Second-generation onboarding
For each workshop, we establish a Signal chat for that cohort. We intend to send out polls to the Signal chats 1-month after the workshop to ask about how many others they have onboarded as well as number of transactions they have completed to gauge ongoing usage. We will report results as we have them.
4.3 Community signals
-
Violet was invited by E.M. to give a workshop in Chicago. See Section 5.2 for discussions on the event. E.M. personally reached out to Violet after reading her guides, and has done most of the legwork to find a venue and recruit interested students.
-
A worker in Ottawa, CN saw the post about the Chicago workshop and reached out to see how a workshop could be set up or brought to Canada to support workers in her area.
4.4 In their own words
- Commendation for Violet’s resources and guides on Bluesky.
@zahrakamasi.bsky.social on Bluesky
- An appreciative text message that Violet received when learning we were returning to Exxxotica NJ, after Exxxotica Chicago that we staffed a zcash booth for in April 2026. We gave out clear plastic kits with various hygiene and harm reduction supplies.
-
Highlights from Molly’s experience being an apprentice with us during Common S3nse in Amsterdam. See her full comments in our post-trip report for the event, and excerpt here:
-
“[…] I was, however, incredibly surprised to learn the ease with which I was able to pick up the ins and outs of Zodl, Zcash, and CipherPay with the help of my other Zcash team members.
-
I’m leaving incredibly excited to continue using Zcash for my business, and am even talking with Mylo about the possibility to get Cipher Pay integrated with the website for my publishing house, Working Girls Press.
-
I’m leaving the experience feeling much more knowledgable about the world as a whole, and confident in my ability to onboard others, both from a logistical standpoint and in my ability to demonstrate how it can improve our lives and ability to survive and thrive though sex workers are constantly debanked and face financial discrimination.
-
I’m very grateful to have had this experience and was touched that sex worker voices and perspectives were included by the Zcash team, and that my experience and insight was valued.” – Molly Simmons
-
5. Activations and workshops
5.1 Completed Events
Cypherpunk Week in Amsterdam, September 2 -4
Type: Side event + Booth
Crew: Violet Parr, Mylo Bennett, Kate Stapleton, Molly Simmons
Apprentice trained: Molly Simmons
Format: Common S3nse conference plus 2 walking tour side events, and post-tour drinks
What happened: This is not apart of this grant, as it was approved on the side but during the month of September we staffed a booth at Common S3nse and hosted side events.
Outcomes:
-
ZECsy’s Amsterdam trip (Cypherpunk Week, Sept 1–5) delivered strong on-the-ground results: the team hosted a booth plus four side events (two walking tours and two afterparties) alongside Common S3nse and DashCon, reaching roughly 200 Luma checkins, 90% booth foot traffic, and 33 new contacts.
-
Concrete onboarding wins included a tour guide, six tour attendees, a hackathon builder who shipped a Zcash-based poker app, and a graphic artist and small business (Working Girls Press) both adopting @Kenbak’s CipherPay for payments.
-
Beyond onboarding, the trip built real relationship capital: new ties with Dash, Zano, Web3Privacy Now, OtterSec, and, notably, the Prostitution Information Center and CryptoCanal founder Eleonore, both eager to host a future sex-worker-focused privacy workshop, which the team flagged as needing a “scouting trip first, workshop second” model going forward.
-
The event closed essentially on budget (about $800 over a $30k budget) and surfaced clear next steps: revise info cards since Payy Network is shutting down, source SWAG locally to avoid shipping delays, and build a one-page Zcash fact sheet and an apprentice onboarding guide for future trips.
Documentation: The full post-trip report can be found at:
-
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1c1BJadg48qq-mobYyTUR7TVkQLfJhkmO/view?usp=drive_link
-
Grant Application - ZECsy Team Marketing at Cypherpunk Week in Amsterdam
5.2 Updates to In-Progress Events
Boston Workshop, date TBD
Type: Workshop
Crew: Violet (instructor)
Apprentice trained: TBD
Format: Private workshop for vetted students
What happened: Violet and I met with C. from Boston Sex Worker’s and Allies Collective (https://bswac.org/). C is very interested in partnering with us to host a workshop in the Boston area. BSWAC already has a mailing list of vetted workers in the area, that they will leverage to help us fill the room. They also have connections to safe venues.
Outcomes: We are targeting a mid-November event, and will update as we know more.
Documentation: TBD
--
Chicago Workshop, October 14, 2026
Type: Workshop
Crew: Violet (instructor)
Apprentice trained: NA
Format: Private workshop for vetted students
What happened: Violet received an inquiry via her website after a sex worker E. M. read her resources guides on her personal website. E. M. is associated with a group in Chicago, and asked Violet if she was willing to run a workshop. E.M. already is willing and able to find students and a venue. This is exciting because they reached out to Violet directly, demonstrating real signal that these workshops are desired.
Outcomes: Event planed for October 14, 2026.
Documentation:
--
Exxxotica Edison NJ, Oct 22-25
Type: Conference Booth
Crew: Mylo Bennett, Violet Parr, Kate Stapleton, and Justine (from Berlin Blockchain Week)
Apprentices: Eve, Avery
Format: Staffed booth at the main event
What happened: The ZECsy team is preparing for the event.
-
Paid for a premium booth which includes ad placement o
n the website, and an insert into the program. ($2,900) Zcash at EXXXOTICA -
The program insert was designed by Angelica, a ZEC-accepting graphic artist. See the two women in the kitchen.
-
We booked ground transportation, and hotels logistics for all 6 team members.
-
Justine, who worked with us for Berlin Blockchain Week, will be joining as a vendor-in-residence at our booth. Justine will get set up with CipherPay.app, accepting ZEC for her items at our booth. During Cypherpunk Week in Amsterdam, we hosted Working Girl’s Press, and found that having a ZEC-accepting vendor at our booth was a great demonstration of the technology. People need to see what’s possible, and this is a great example of a Point of Sales system.
-
Kate Stapleton @kate.stapes is a veteran zcash advocate from Cypherpunk Week in Amsterdam, and will support Exxxotica with her expertise in business development and onboarding everyday users.
-
Mylo is working on SWAG giveaways. For Chicago we gave away 600 pouches that contained an info card about zcash, some condoms, wet wipes, and other emergency helpful supplies. We received great feedback on the kits, that they were valuable and also memorable. We are planning on 1000 kits, as we expect a larger crowd.
-
We will try to host a sex worker focused workshop alongside the main event, but will not count this towards the weekend workshops funded separately by ZCG. This will be a bonus workshop. This workshop will be an experience if we get high attendance because the conference draws a crowd, or we get low attendance if the conference distracts people who would otherwise attend.
Outcomes: TBD
Documentation:
--
Mumbai Devcon8, Nov 2- 6
Type: Conference Attendance + Side Event
Crew: Mylo Bennett, Violet Parr, Kate Stapleton
Apprentices: Evi Nova
-
Mylo and Violet first met Evi during Buenos Aires devconnect, then saw her again at Berlin Blockchain Week. Mylo invited her to India because her technical background in smart contract development.
Format: Networking at main event, and university-focused side event
What happened: The ZECsy team is preparing for the event.
-
Mylo finalized the team capable of traveling. Arranged hotel and flights, plus have applied for travel VISAs to India.
-
Side Event:
-
Leveraging Kate’s contacts, we are working to host an event for students. Since @webzero is hosting a hackathon, we will not be including this element as we don’t want to overlap with their efforts. Webzero is not focusing on university students, and so we will take this market share.
-
Our current plan is for a university student focused talk and networking event. This would include an overview of zcash from a user’s perspective and then a developer-focused talk about building on zcash. I am thinking approximately 50-80 students, with networking drinks and pizza to follow. We will have ZEC giveaways for downloading the wallet and other onboarding activities.
-
Mylo will prepare a set of project ideas for zcash development, that students could apply for a Zcash Community Grant to support the work. If students are committed, Kate and Mylo will review applications for the grants before they submit.
-
-
Our goal for attending is to build relationships with other privacy-focused projects and organizations in the space. These connections will aide in getting us speaking slots at future conferences, collaborations for events, as well as our awareness of tools in the space.
- Example: Mylo is particularly looking for accounting, bookkeeping, and payroll options that might work for businesses who want to accept Zcash.
Outcomes: TBD
Documentation:
-
Luma Links for attending main events: ZECsy at ETH Cypherpunk Congress #3 · Luma, ZECsy at Devcon 8 · Luma
-
Our luma links for university side event: TBD
–
Exxxotica Miami FL, Dec 4 -6
Type: Conference Booth
Crew: Mylo Bennett, Violet Parr, Kate Stapleton
Apprentices: A. O., TBD #1 and TBD #2
Format: Staffed booth at the main event
What happened: The ZECsy team is preparing for the event.
-
Paid for a premium booth which includes ad placement on the website, and an insert into the program. ($2,900) Zcash at EXXXOTICA
- Note: Change of sponsorship tier, see Section 9 for full details.
-
We booked hotel to ensure we had space in the host hotel, as they book early.
-
A. O. was selected as both an adult industry professional but with experience in cybersecurity. We believe his combination of technical expertise and industry knowledge expertise will enhance the experience of those visiting our booth.
Outcomes: TBD
Documentation:
- Luma event: ZECsy at Exxxotica Miami · Luma
--
5.3 Other In-Progress Event Planning
-
Montreal Workshop: We got interest in collaborating with local workers, and will pursue a phone call to organize timing, venue, etc.
-
Amsterdam Workshop: We are looking at returning to Amsterdam around late February 2027 to align with other sex worker gathering happening at that time.
-
New Orleans Workshop: We are looking at collaborating with Working Girl’s Press who plans to attend a poetry and small-business printing press gathering in mid-April 2027. This would be an opportunity to interact with small businesses, as well as workers in the area. Working Girl’s Press accepted ZEC during Amsterdam’s Common S3nse conference at our booth as a CipherPay Point of Sales demonstration.
-
ETHDenver Feb 2027: Mylo and Kate are brainstorming ideas for a larger conference or activation in Denver. They will be networking during Devcon in India for connections and partners who will make a larger event successful. They will work on a specific plan in October, to have concrete asks ahead of Zcon7 in Cancun and Devcon8 in Mumbai.
-
Kate Stapleton @kate.stapes plans to attend DC Privacy Summit in DC including PGPZ’s Cypherpunk Dinner. She is not using ZECsy grant funds for this trip in mid-October.
6. Work outside events and workshops
Zcash Marketing Station:
I set up a Zcash marketing section of my basement, as I source materials in bulk. Rather than buying 200-300 condoms every event, I ordered 2k yellow condoms to save money and serve us for at least the next 2-3 events. This will serve as a staging area, as well as inventory tracking for what I have set aside for each event.
Currently I am preparing for Exxxotica NJ, Zcon7, and Devcon8 in India. I have the SWAG packs for the booth in NJ, plus leftover yellow/black aprons from Chicago. I will also store durable items such as the yellow kitchen backdrop, sign standers, and business card holders.
6.1 Field reports routed to the teams who own them
6.2 Collaboration with other grantees and ecosystem projects
-
Mylo joined Elzz @elzz-ux in her Proof of Privacy initiative. On September 2nd Mylo and Elzz hosted an X space to talk about zkSNARKs and other privacy-preserving aspects of Zcash. We had 390 participants on the call which gener ated quite a bit of Twitter buzz.
-
The Proof of Privacy class resulted in a Twitter/X trending topic with a summary with 3.8k views:
-
-
Mylo and Kate met with Divij Pandya @divijpandya of PGPZ to talk about collaborations between our grant work.
-
Outcome: PGPZ and ZECsy team will create a FAQ sheet for those interested in the legal and revelatory status of Zcash to distribute at booths and crypto-focused evented.
6.3 Partnerships, introductions, and connections made
-
Mylo and Violet talked with Natalia James of the United Auto Workers union about the need for financial resiliency in at-risk communities. No tangible takeaway at this time, but an interesting connection.
-
Mylo connected with L. H. working at harm reduction efforts in NYC. She will be a valuable resource for providing harm reduction supplies for Exxxotica booths. We found harm reduction supplies were popular during Chicago, and we aim to provide more of these items as value SWAG attracts people to our booth for conversations. It also also such fun quips as “At zcash, we aim to protect your privacy and your physical layer.” The condoms are for “shielding your liquid transcations”.
6.4 Community and governance participation
-
Mylo and Violet are planning to attend Zcon7 as invited speakers.
-
Mylo voted in the ZCAP poll.
6.5 Tools, documents, and materials produced
-
During Amsterdam Cypherpunk week it was clear that we needed a 1 page summary flier for zcash. In preparation for Exxxotica in Edison, NJ I began the process of creating a 1-page summary for users and a second page for businesses.
- When finished, we will post the fliers on a resources pages off ZECsy.com for other marketing teams to use.
6.6 Program development
- Now, attending sex worker meetups and support groups is a recruiting apprentices activity, which the team will continue to participate in.
7. Budget and spend
Startup payment: $45,833
Spent this month: $30,883
Variance and savings: On budget, aside from major change outlined in section 9.
8. Learnings and changes
-
What worked: The ability to plan months in advance allowed us to make cost savings by buying in bulk and also align with other organizations better.
-
What did not: Molly S. highlighted the need for better materials for apprentices coming to the booth. She was comfortable with the zcash-related technical onboarding, but wanted clearer instructions on how to handle various questions from attendees.
-
Change we are making next month: We have an onboarding document for new apprentices to read before attending a booth about common questions we get and how to respond.
- Ex. Politely inform inquiring smart contract auditors that zcash doesn’t have smart contracts and therefore we don’t need their services.
9. Major Changes
For Exxxotica Miami, I planned for the Seminar Tier Sponsorship at ~$18k, but unfortunately this option was sold out. My intentions are to use these funds to return to Amsterdam for a follow-up workshop. We made connections with the Prostitution Information Center and CryptoCanal who both pledged their support and excitement for a ZECsy workshop. We are targeting a February return trip. We will keep the committee posted about appropriate allocation of these funds.
10. Risks, blockers, and asks
-
Risks:
- Pending approval of Indian VISAs for team members traveling to Devcon8 Mumbai
-
Asks of ZCG or the ecosystem:
- What bookkeeping and accounting systems do ZEC operating business use?