ZECsy Trip Report: Cypherpunk Week, Amsterdam, NL Sept 1st - 5th
Zcash Grassroots Marketing Team · @ReadyMouse , @fabacab
Hello friends,
Molly Simmons, Violet Parr, Kate Stapleton, and Mylo Bennett attended Web3privacy now meetup on August 1 and DashCon Sept 2. Joël of Dash led a closing panel on privacy technologies.
Common S3nse hosted by CryptoCanal in Amsterdam September 4 – 5. We also attended the event and hosted 2 zcash side events.
Side Event: September 3rd: Red Light Cypherpunk: Walking Tour + Afterparty
We have 6 attendees pictures here, with 4 more standing off camera who did not want to be photographed. For a total of 10 guests on the tour. At 2pm we joined and set off for a 1 hours walking down in the red light district, talking about the private (and not-so-private) histories of the city. We all gathered at an Irish pub afterwards at 3pm or so, where more folks joined us for the after-tour drinks. Everyone from the tour stayed to chat for at least a little awhile. The ZECsy ended up staying until 9pm, as folks continued to trickle in, and stay for hours networking and talking about zcash. In total we had about 20 people attend this event over the course of 7 hours.
We onboarded one of the tour guides from 360Tours of Amsterdam, as well as 6 of the attendees. Some already had wallets, and knew about zcash but asked deeper questions. Conversations included latest updates as well as more in-depth technical conversations about Ironwood vs Orchard and node operations. At some point the servers and bartenders got interested in our party, and they too got the zcash private money primer. We ended the night with new friends, and more connections to the city.
Main event: September 4th - 5th we staffed a booth at Common S3nse, as seen in the team photo above.
“When all you see is a wallet, it’s hard to imagine how a business might operate off a cell phone.” At the booth we operated a CipherPay Point-of-Sale demo processing 3 successful transactions with guests and showcasing zcash’s ability to act beyond peer-to-peer, wallet-to-wallet payments.
Side Event: September 5th: Rebellious Cypherpunk: Walking Tour
We split into 2 groups for this tour, pictured here is one half of the total attendees. We had 18 guests total, lead by guides from BadAss Tours. By request, the guides included stories of rebellious figures from Amsterdam’s history, as well as a stop by the bank where stock trading is first known to have started. The tour guides did a great job of integrating financial components, as well as rebels from history. One group pictured below, the other group we didn’t manage to get a group photo of them.
Side Event: September 5th: Rebellious Afterparty
We hosted an after-tour and after-conference event at Oche, which was the only after-conference event, resulting over 50 people attending.
See a video of the event on Kate’s twitter: Kate S on X: "The ZECsy @Zcash after party is in full swing! Come grab a drink, meet the team and chat privacy with us 🤝" / X
During the tours we handed out Zcash information cards.
We saw 900 unique visitors to ZECsy.com in the week of Common S3nse.
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Zcash in use**
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The graphic artist we hired to make the poster for the Common S3nse hallway now accepts Zcash after designing our poster and being curious about the product she was designing for. This artist has never received any crypto or ZEC before, and did now accepts it for commissions.
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Sharky met us at the Red Lights Afterparty early in the week and had never used Zcash the currency before, nor had the Zodl wallet, but wasn’t ready to try that day. The next day he sat with us at the DashCon afterparty, and then was convinced to download ZODL to try. Two days later, he came back to the booth with his Common S3nse hackathon being a zcash-based poker app.
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The tour guide for the Red Lights Walking tour was onboarded to ZODL after the tour, and we tipped in ZEC.
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Working Girls Press, owned by Molly S, successfully used CipherPay to set up a Point of Sales system at the zcash booth. This was both a demonstration for visitors, and also a full introduction for Molly into the system. We will work with Molly to allow continued use after the event, by integrating it into her website, if desired.
ZECsy Apprentice: Molly Simmons
Molly was our apprentice for this event, as well as our community collaborations partner moving forward. Her connections to local sex worker organizations will aide the ZECsy team in planning the weekend workshops that are a part of our 9-month marketing plan. Molly learned both how to onboard people to ZODL as well as explain CipherPay as a vendor. Through the week, of splitting meals, paying some folks to incentivize downloading, receiving payments via CipherPay for books, Molly got 10s of real world, hands-on practice using and moving ZEC.
- September 1: It was Molly who noticed that the Swap feature wasn’t working, and after Mylo was able to replicate the issue we determined it was not user error. Mylo raised the issue to Neal from ZODL, of which we determined there were 2 errors at play. A syncing and “Insufficient funds” error when the wallet was trying to connect to a dysfunctional light-wallet node, and needed to be manually set to a stable node. Neal assured me there was a fix coming for this error. And NEAR Intents was down for maintenance, resulting in the “No available swap” errors for all chains, Neal also assured me that SwapKit and Maya protocol were soon to be integrated to provide greater resiliency when an exchange is down.
A note from Molly:
“As a self-proclaimed technological novice and almost entirely unfamiliar with the crypto world, I didn’t know quite what to expect from the Common S3nse Conference in Amsterdam. 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 originally came out to Amsterdam, not necessarily because I sought to be heavily involved in crypto trading, but because Violet showed me the value that a private digital payment system like Zcash had to offer sex workers like us and the freedom in engaging with a cryptocurrency separate from the fiat money system.
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 have to admit I was hesitant at first because the public image of cryptocurrency in-groups and the prevailing idea of “crypto bros” had me feeling wary of who I might meet, but ultimately I found the Zcash folks (and the attendees at Common S3nse) very welcoming, down-to-earth, and passionate about privacy and anti-surveillance measures, just like myself and so many people I know.
I found that onboarding people at the booth itself was difficult, as conference floors tend to be busy and a bit rushed, but the socials and mixers that Mylo organized were incredibly generative for talking to people about the value of Zcash, the ease of Zodl, and getting them onboarded onto the currency. For people like me who are new or resistant to crypto (or even for people who are already using crypto but not Zcash) the opportunity to connect on an individual level about how you can add value and safety to someone’s life is key.
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. Not only that, but I’m excited to follow in Violet’s footsteps and be able to offer my fellow community members a viable alternative when they have been debanked or find themselves discriminated against by the US banking system. I know that for many cryptocurrencies are seen as investments, which is great for those in a position to see them as such, but for those in marginalized groups like myself it’s actually amazing to see them work as a viable alternative to USD and its associated pay-apps. (Cashapp, Venmo, Paypal, etc., which we are at constant risk of losing) 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.”
Stats
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200 attendees of Common S3nse/DashCon
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+33 new contacts in phone, @ReadyMouse
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+7 strengthened connections, @ReadyMouse
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3 side events attended (Web3privacy meetup, DashCon, DashCon afterparty)
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4 side events hosted (2 tours, 2 after-tour meetups)
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1 main event + booth (Common S3nse)
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+1 ZECsy apprentice trained
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900 unique visitors to ZECsy.com in the week of Common S3nse
Cumulative Impact Summary
Interesting Conversations
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Mylo interviewed with Juan from Common S3nse’s Crypto Canal team, talking about zcash’s privacy for all ethos. This is expected to be posted to Crypto Canal’s twitter after the event.
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Mylo and Kate connected with the Zano team, and learned about their ecosystem. As privacy coins in the same space, it was refreshing to talk to teams in person, and chat as equals. There was no twitter flame war and hate shared beside the bar, as we compared privacy strategies and acknowledged that the privacy space needs resiliency and multiple coins.
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Web3Privacy Now: A well-known group that organizes privacy-focused events surrounding major conference. We connected with Robert, who is also planning to be in Mumbai in the coming months, so we will see them there.
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“Zcash! We have a question.” – Stranger
- I happened to be walking upstairs to visit the Zano booth when my Zcash shirt attracted the attention of someone sitting in the chairs. I was pulled into a conversation about surveillance on NEAR Intents, and the advantage of shielded ZEC outputs. We talk about on-ramping into ZEC from exchanges with minimal metadata leakage (IP addresses, BTC/ETH addresses, KYC, etc).
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Zcash meet Dash
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“I talked to chatGPT about my project, and it told me to talk to the Zcash and Zano teams. So here I am!” – A woman designing a holistic, health-incentivizing token & app
- She walked away with an understanding of Zcash privacy, and how ZSAs could potentially be used to build the private token she is looking to launch.
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“I see on the Luma for ‘Zcash at Common Sense’ you mentioned explaining off-ramping and on-ramping, what is off-ramping?” – Conference attendee
- Personally, this was confirmation that it’s worth it to post generic “Zcash at [Conference]” luma events. I had 18 confirmed attendees, which feels like a lot for a booth notice inside a paid event. ( ZCASH at Common S3nse · Luma ) This person came confused, and left with a ZODL wallet.
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“I don’t want to download ZODL right now, because I’m planning a UI study of major privacy tech, on it’s usability for non-technical users.” – J.
- I think they are planning to sit down and record their own experience, but also with non-technical/non-crypto users and watch how they navigate downloading various crypto wallets, ZODL potentially included. I think this will be an interesting study into how no-coiners interact with the tech, and where pain points are for new users.
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Violet and Molly went to talk to the Prostitution Information Center (PIC)[https://pic-amsterdam.com/\], where they found the staff very interested in their Zcash workshops and private payment alternatives. The PIC staffed invited the ZECsy team to come back, and would be open to coordinating a workshop for workers in Amsterdam. These connections are often hard to accomplish remotely, and need the human connection first.
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Violet then attended the Monday SWer meetup at PIC, where she interacted with +8 other workers in the area. Many are interested in a full workshop, if the ZECsy team returns. She left behind many of the Zcash information cards and condoms.
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That evening happened to the Friends2Follow’s [F2F.com - The Premium Social Media Network Build For Creators] annual award ceremony [F2F.COM CREATOR AWARDS 2026 in Amsterdam]. This OnlyFans-competitor is a Netherland’s based content subscription site. Violet connected with the founder, and we will continue to foster this relationship.
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Eleonore, founder of CryptoCanal, was also deeply interested in supporting Violet’s workshops for onboarding sex workers to zcash and other privacy preserving technologies.
- Between PIC and CryptoCanal, we could easily return and set up an in-depth workshop for workers in the area.
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“I’ve never bought anything with ZEC before.” One guest in particular got quite excited to see we were selling things and offering a “Tip the Artist” QR code because it allowed them to make their first Zcash-as-a-currency transaction. They had a self-custody wallet, and held ZEC before walking up to our booth.
People we met before who we saw again:
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Jim Jim and Danish: working on a privacy protocol Wardtoad for private bridging
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Web3Privacy: We’ve met various members of the team over the past events, and so it’s fun to reconnect with those we know and expand our friendships with this team. Web3Privacy is planning events in ETHTokyo as well as during devcon in Mumbai.
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Alex from OtterSec: smart contract auditing firm. We met Alex in Buenos Aires first, and then again at ETHDenver, but he never showed interest in zcash the first two times. It was sitting at the bar during the Red Lights Afterparty that Alex downloaded ZODL for the first time, and experienced making a transaction with ZEC.
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Joël from Dash: As Joel lives close to Mylo, they are common attendees of Boston Zcash Events and enjoyed reconnecting again in Amsterdam during DashCon.
Social Media
While we don’t focus on social media explicitly during these trips, we do try to record what’s happening and share our experiences. We prioritize in-person conversations, and create content as time allows.
Re-tweets and trending topics:
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Sal Mayweather reposted our “Protection is ZECsy” condoms. 19K views
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CryptoCanal, the organization hosting Common S3nse, retweeted Kate video of Mylo buying a drink with ZEC at the venue. Combined 1.6k views.
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Vlad (@VladC ) stopped by our booth and tweeted about his experience. 3.9k views
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MoraPayments liked our Privacy is ZECsy poster. 300 views.
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Mylo’s own tweet gained attention too, with 8.1k views.
Who was in the room
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Who attends this event: 200 Luma checkins for Common S3nse and 180 attendees of DashCon with some overlap. Most folks were technical in the privacy space, with some investors and traders in the mix. I would guess half seems like locals, and half from neighboring European countries.
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Who we reached: I would guess 80-90% of the attendees walked past our booth, and most stopped to talk with us. This aligns with my experience as I brought 500 condoms and 500 informational Zcash cards, and I have about 250 cards remaining and approximately 350 condoms left. At the final closing party with 50-60 people, we knew all guests in attendance.
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Prior Zcash awareness: A good percent of the people had heard of Zcash, but didn’t know much about it. Most already had self-custody wallets, with only a few having ZODL or zcash-specific wallets. Sharky built a hackathon project accepting ZEC but had never built with zcash before. A few folks already had ZEC in their wallets, but had never spent it like a currency. One guest in particular got quite excited to see we were selling things and offering a “Tip the Artist” QR code because it allowed them to make this first Zcash-as-a-currency transaction.
Relationships and Bridging Communities
What the room needs that does not exist yet: If a business is to accept ZEC, it needs more than just a wallet or point of sales system. That business also need bookkeeping or accounting methods that can handle ZEC, and crypto in general. Cost basis and ZEC price at sale tracking, or instant off-ramping methods. The company may also want payroll and tax systems. I currently don’t have good recommendations for these tools.
- I will be attempting to survey ZEC-operating businesses to see what tools they use, and what I could recommend to other businesses.
Lessons Learned
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2-Trip Model: We need to visit a place in-person to build local connections to sex workers, before a workshop is possible. It is very difficult to build trust in this community remotely, and since visiting Amsterdam we now have the connections to come back for a workshop. In cities we have already visited, and have connection then returning for a weekend workshop may be possible. For new cities, a first scouting mission to meet with local organizers, find communities and lay the foundations of trust is vital to the success of the workshop.
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We will seek to make connections in cities we are already planning to visit, to prepare for a return trip. We will need to make scouting trips to new cities, before attempting to host a workshop.
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Trust takes time, and in-person relationships.
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Our stand-up banner designed by the graphic artist looked great, as did the human-designed posters. The condoms and stickers are always well received.
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Our info cards include Payy Network as a ZEC to Visa card off-ramping option. We learned Payy is going out of business, after we printed the cards.
- We need to research alternatives, and revise the cards.
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Our SWAG of bucket hats, t-shirts, and tote bags was severely delayed by shipping/customs despite the manufacturing getting them out with ample lead time. Original estimate put arrival on Monday August 31, ahead of the Sept 2nd tour and Sept 4/5th events.
- We will be sourcing SWAG either local to the event, or local to Mylo such that it can be hand-carried to the event.
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The “Tip the Artist” QR code actually served the purpose of enabling us to talk about how rotating addresses in ZODL do persist and can be used for examples like Donation links, while still preserving privacy for the sender & recipient. This was a nice contrast to the always rotating receive addresses in ZODL, and the individually assigned per-checkout cart of CipherPay.
- Consider other persistent address demos in the future.
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The CipherPay Demo went very well by collaborating with Working Girl Press to sell bumper stickers, tote bags, and books. Originally we planned to sell some Zcash t-shirts as a steep discount to incentivize transactions, but the collaboration was a good alturnative.
- Consider other collaborations, and merch demos for CipherPay.
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We recognized the need for a 1-page summary sheet on Zcash and other ecosystem components.
- We will be assembling a fact sheet for future events.
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Our apprentice did well at onboarding but it felt disjoint to her.
- We will be creating a guide for our ZECsy apprentices to read ahead of time to prepare them for the conversations they are likely to encounter at the events.
A note on cost
I budgeted $30k for this event. I paid ~$6,400k for the side event and booth materials. This included the tour guides + tips, information cards, condoms, stickers, upright banner, posters, SWAG for attendees, and Zcash polos for the team. I paid $1,200 for graphic work for the upright banner that will be reused for future events, as well as the “Privacy is ZECsy” poster. That is a total of ~$7,400, where I budgeted $7k for the side events portion.
Flights were $600 less expensive than predicted however housing was almost $1k more expensive than budgeted.
Total: $800 over budget
Good bye Amsterdam, until we meet again!
Thank you to the Zcash community for your continued support. Onward to Exxxotica in Edison, NJ!
— @ReadyMouse , @fabacab
Note: You can find all our reports at ZECsy_Team_Reports - Google Drive
