âIf you know your network and your systems, you need not fear the result of a hundred cyber battles.â - @SunTzuCyber, The Art of Cyber War
I will help initiate a social contract the aligns the Major Grants Review Committee (MGRC) within the Zcash Network Flywheel. To do this, I propose installing Four Pillars that establish basic controls and levers for next yearâs MGRC to gain momentum.
Read it here: https://hackmd.io/@jmsjsph/4MGRC
Hello @jmsjsph For my vote, please answer my questions frankly:
I am pro-Bitcoin because I would like to see Bitcoinâs promise of anonymous peer-to-peer electronic cash fulfilled without any sacrifices, in itâs full spectacular gradeur, without loss of fidelity. Get sucked into THE CYPHERNOMICON - HackMD to see what I am getting at.
From itâs roots and to its current stature, I believe Zcash is the worldâs most valid expression of what is popularly known as the Bitcoin movement thus far. Moreover, Zcash is manifesting Bitcoinâs vision by fleshing out competing perspectives for the protocolâs direction through the for-profit ECC, the non-profit ZF, and now the MGRC. Not to mention, it is all being administered by brilliant, conscious people who respect the potential of this project to change the world, for good.
That is why my club benchmarks its performance against Bitcoin - because we believe that, with the power of shielded money messages on mobile, Zcash can pick up the torch where Bitcoin left off: in the hands of everyday users.
If so, our club units, and Zcash itself, could be worth more than 1 Bitcoin, each. Practically, this could mean that, in the eyes of the behodlers, Zcash successfully accomplished Bitcoinâs mission. I would consider this pursuit extremely Pro-Bitcoin, but I do not hold any BTC.
The total value of our cybercoin portfolio varies widely in USD but has always remained less than $10M at all times. 20 members participate. Our faith has been tested as our club continues to underperform Bitcoin by more than 50%+ since inception. Valuations are performed at time of deposit, only.
Currently, our investment clubâs target date is less than 5 years away. After our initial investment, we contribute to the account periodically. I consolidate and summarize its transactions, money and messages.
This is a great problem to have and we should aim to be inundated with such qualified applicants. Please see my 3D Social Contract for Transparency https://hackmd.io/@jmsjsph/4MGRC#-1-â3Dâ-Social-Contract-for-transparency & MGRC Wishlist
I hope they get better, soon. I donât enter DeFi shops without a Metamask on. Even then, I donât feel safe.
Intâl (including remote):
Leverkusen, Germany
Glasglow, UK
Hyderbad, India
USA (including remote):
Boston, MA
Kansas, MO
Los Angeles, CA
Philadelphia, PA
Raleigh, NC
See my answer to âDescribe the type of people you work best with, if you were on MGRC what qualities should the other candidates have?â"
To complete the Zcash Network Flywheel, I am convinced that the MGRC must commit to fulfilling the Zcash vision from the End Userâs perspective.
Our application process must invite what we are seeking from grant applicants.
I read about a technique called âuser storiesâ that help software developers describe the TYPE of user, WHAT they want and WHY. It may prove to be a simple and effective way to capture what grant funding should accomplish from the recipient, enabling a diverse applicant pool to register their clear intents to serve our userbase.
By putting users first, you also increase the likelihood that the code that is produced becomes useful for other developers seeking to serve similar users.
What I consider real change: more active zaddrs, more shielded transactions, more practical usage of the zcash memo field
To me, âHuge Changesâ create undeniable network effects: a bigger userbase (users not only attract others, but users also attract devs), an accessible functional codebase (to help devs reach more users, faster).
The MGRC, with access to referential codebases like wallet and open source projects like zecpages should enable newcombers to buidl bigger and better, year-over-year
See âVolatilityâ
z2z.toâŚ
May grant funding for a [Next] buttonâŚ
I used Zcash to purchase a custom piece from an artist online:
https://twitter.com/AGNFAB1/status/1298449604657152000?s=20
In VR, avatars have Zcash business cards, thanks to DankVR:
https://twitter.com/dankvr/status/1294171012787916800?s=20
I, myself, have paid for virtual services through my âMinor Grant Review Committeeâ: https://twitter.com/zcashvr/status/1224348913311928320?s=20
Similarly, I used Zcash to send newsletters to zaddrs listed on zecpages
I donated to various non-profits https://twitter.com/michaelharms70/status/1225434155812622346?s=20
I offered and awarded Zcash as a Prize to winners of a
A GUI to distribute z2z money messages to members on a z-address directory may enable others to create their own newzletters. Call it zmail https://twitter.com/decentralistdan/status/1258495671042289665?s=20
An open source z-address directory that is integrated across decentralized apps
Like z2z.to or cointr.ee (or both)
Simple, private periodic payment systems so that I could blindly donate to OpenPrivacy, Rust, Jordan Petersen (see how embarrasing that is to admit in public), etc.
https://twitter.com/zcashvr/status/1088467050165612544?s=20
An easy way to generate Zcash Petitions in case the Zcash Community Advisory Panel has not grown fast enough to represent userbase
Staked Poll on Zcash Dev Fund Debate - #113 by ChileBob
zUSD, but without adding the complexity of digital assets or by leveraging the shielded memo field
https://twitter.com/zcashvr/status/1294222744633171968?s=20
A âslow-money i-got-robbed buttonâ
Slow money & I-got-robbed button
I think I was a cypherpunk in an earlier life
In first grade, I was nearly suspended for compiling and distributing evidence suggesting that Santa Claus is NOT real
Now I manage money and messages for an investment club
I think patient data privacy is extremely important to advance the healthcare of humanity, specifically via real world evidence and preventative measures.
The Zcash community is exceedingly welcoming and inclusive
I have detailed a strategy that reserves 25% of any incoming zcash during years 1-4 for use during the next years 4-8 and included a discussion of its benefits: https://hackmd.io/@jmsjsph/4MGRC#How-should-MGRC-allocate-Strategic-Reserves
In the long run, our goal should be to establish Zcash as the internet reserve currency such that it is stable in its own right.
Until then, we can reinforce the value of ZEC by declaring 1 ZEC=1 ZEC (as long ZEC/USD stays within some range that affords rent and groceries).
If ZEC/USD is $9, we can divide our grant funding allocation across less programs, reinforcing higher priorities as pre-defined by the committee (see 3d Social Contract: https://hackmd.io/@jmsjsph/4MGRC#-1-â3Dâ-Social-Contract-for-transparency)
If ZEC/USD is $21,000, we can multiply our grant funding into more programs, halving the amount of zec available and granting funds to our Wish List endeavors:
If excess funding is available, say, ZEC/USD is $21,000, MGRC shall draw from a ZCAP wishlist that is maintain by MGRC. As with all funded grants, MGRC wishlist items must be approved by ZF before funding is administered.
These high and low triggers may be pre-defined, in public or in secret, by the MGRC/ZF.
I like the idea so much I have added it to my agenda and will credit you. Thank you! HackMD - Collaborative Markdown Knowledge Base
Success: A crystal-clear social contract between the MGRC, ZF and ECC, one that includes standard operating procedures which care to unabashedly invite grant recipients from around the world to accept zcash and make it more useful for its current users.
More success - Network effects: Growing userbase and functional codebase means our anonymity set is exploding
Failure:
Remember that Zcash â and other efforts at private, digital money â are open protocols, not startups. Do not cargo-cult startup-ism into the core of your protocol, and resist attempts by others to do so. A protocol for private, digital money should serve the public good, not the needs of a select few business interests. 2020-07-31-goodbye-to-zf.md ¡ GitHub
I though awhile ago that the funding amount to the teams building Zcash should be variable according to the price of ZCASH
A great grant recipient has made it clear in their application how their deliverable will amount to a larger userbase. When they fulfill their own Definition of Done, all Zcash users will be able to test the functionality of the grant.
Smaller, less established teams over larger, more established teams.
I would like to see applications borne from the shielded money messaging functions that our very own protocol layer enables.
And, as much as I would like to free Monero from their own ring signatures or help Ethereum complete their network upgrade pipeline, I do not believe the MGRC should be in the busyness of funding grants that develop in the protocol layer, let alone another tokenâs protocol layer (including governance coins like 0xm, 3box, Aragon, Async, Art, Balancer, Bitcoin, Decred, Erasure, Ethereum, FOAM, Magic, MakerDAO, Matter Labs, Melon, Nexus Mutual, OpenZeppelin, Polkadot, Radicle, UMA, Zerion).
That being said, it would be fun to offer devs who build on similar protocols a special opportunity to receive an MGRC grant in order to remix their creation to incorporate shielded money and messages.
This could introduce to new ways of implementing shielded transactions while leveraging pre-existing frameworks.
Plus, the definition of done is clearly denoted by their altcoin counterpart: we simply fund the roadmap from p2p to z2z!
Perhaps Naomi Brockwellâs Cointree would safely embrace zero addresses towards building their decentralized, open-source address directory. If integrated by other dapps, this could give cybercoin newcomers immediate access to familiar identities via non-sensitive addresses that leave no trace!
Itâs very difficult to measure these things and calibrate. A textbook called the Personality Puzzle comes to mind. So does a zebra bred with a donkey.
In conventional politics, to win, one simply panders to pertinent polls. Where we are going, we must make space for the eccentric. I love idiosynocratic people with strong convictions who are able to convince others of them. In other words, really different people who can work together. People who are one-track minded, yet open-minded. As I mentioned on the candidate calls, I do not foresee any issues working with any one of the candidates as long as we all share a common end goal despite different ideas about how to get there. I am willing to sacrifice any item on my agenda to ensure that end users are well-served by our platformâs functionalities.
If I was on the MGRC, other candidates should have the qualities I am lacking:
To me, the number of Zcash Users is the key metric by which to judge the success of the MGRC. This can be estimated by app downloads, total searches, flows on on- and off- ramps, etc.
We can develop dashboards, to estimate the number of users and their average usage (tx per time, zfaâs, etc) much like the Mr. Davies project above.
We can also leverage techniques achieved at the Zcash Observatory by Mitchell Krawiec-Thayer and Pranav Thirunavukkarasu. zcash-observatory/ at master ¡ insight-decentralized-consensus-lab/zcash-observatory ¡ GitHub (ZF Grant: ZF Grants - Zcash Observatory).
Hereâs an example of a data visual MGRC could immediately grant funding towards with clear specifications:
In addition to Users/Usage, developers enjoy network effects when accessing a clean, reusable codebase that helps them incorporate shielded money and messages to reach more Zcash users.
I am interested in attaching key performance indicators for the growth of features available in our functional codebase, too.
Good Luck Mr. Joseph
I cant do flywheels, I find them visually distracting.
Josh S, did a great one for the ecc, he even did a talk on the ECC flywheel, flywheels and fireworks. he is the only other person apart from you I have ever heard use the word in this context.
I find your one harder to understand than Josh Sâ because of the company logos. Could you explain the difference between the ECC one and yours please?
There are 3 flywheels mentioned here. I started with the biggest and dove in:
@joshs Head of Growth @electriccoinco
Thanks for asking⌠I added this to my Frequently Asked Questions
