# Let's bring stablecoins to ZSAs! **URL:** \ **Category:** Applications\ **Created:** [March 11, 2024, 11:46am UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/lets-bring-stablecoins-to-zsas/47041 "2024-03-11T11:46:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![vivek](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/vivek/32/19682_2.png) [@vivek](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/vivek)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2024, 10:18am UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/lets-bring-stablecoins-to-zsas/47041/105 "2024-05-25T10:18:11Z")
Hi everyone! I’d like to start off by thanking you all for the discussion here! It was great to hear the support and dig together into the concerns. The different perspectives here help create better proposals. This discussion goes together with a grant proposal - we had a draft with ideas presented here, so we can hear from the community and to better inform us on the goals. We recently submitted the grant proposal for this effort, which you can find [here](https://zcashgrants.org/gallery/25215916-53ea-4041-a3b2-6d00c487917d). We have updated the timelines and the budget in this proposal on the basis of the discussions raised in this thread and in our conversations with the Grants Committee and others. The main updates are: - A focus on first getting ZSA ready for merge, by prioritising Zebra work for the ongoing grant and having Asset Swap implementation lined-up next. - We have also proposed a dedicated compliance advisory [effort](https://zcashgrants.org/gallery/25215916-53ea-4041-a3b2-6d00c487917d/46497576/) in preparation for ZSA deployment. - A lowered budget and initial scope for each milestone to allow the Grants Committee more budget flexibility. - We broke the milestones into a smaller research phase, with checkpoints to allow the Grant Committee to make ongoing decisions whether to develop specific features in the grant. We think the features discussed in this thread are very important for the future of the Zcash ecosystem, and as always, we look forward to hearing from you! ---
**Author:** ![vivek](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/vivek/32/19682_2.png) [@vivek](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/vivek)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2024, 10:21am UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/lets-bring-stablecoins-to-zsas/47041/106 "2024-06-17T10:21:22Z")
Hello again everyone! After talks with the ZCG, we are revising the current grant proposal as follows. We will be working on the Research and ZIP Design portions of the proposal: - Verifiable Encryption, Enhanced Keys – Research and ZIP design - Transaction Acceptance and User Control – Research and ZIP design The estimated delivery is December 2024, budgeted at around $85k per month. This work will allow the Zcash community / ZF / ECC to provide early feedback on the design of these important features. We already have some ideas and early drafts in mind, and we’re excited to share them with you! ---
**Author:** ![james\_katz](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/james_katz/32/26780_2.png) [@james\_katz](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/james_katz)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2024, 12:33pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/lets-bring-stablecoins-to-zsas/47041/107 "2024-06-17T12:33:58Z")
> [@vivek](#): > > The estimated delivery is December 2024, budgeted at around $85k per month. It would be nice if you could breakdown and explain this value in details. Because, at first glance, $85/month or $510.000\* a.k.a half a million dollars looks insanely overpriced for researching and writing a document (a Zcash Improvement Proposal in this case). \* Assuming 6 months until December. ---
**Author:** ![\_jon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/c89c15/32.png) [@\_jon](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/_jon)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2024, 4:28pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/lets-bring-stablecoins-to-zsas/47041/108 "2024-06-17T16:28:07Z")
> [@james\_katz](#): > > overpriced for researching and writing a document Hi James, this phase covers 3 milestones (1.1, 1.2, 2.1) in our initial proposal above, and the deliverables are 2 research reports followed by 2 fully spec’d ZIPs. It’s a lot of work… Each review by e.g. ECC is then followed by iterating on the proposals, more than once. ---
**Author:** ![hanh](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/hanh/32/27853_2.png) [@hanh](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/hanh)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2024, 5:51am UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/lets-bring-stablecoins-to-zsas/47041/109 "2024-06-18T05:51:51Z")
Thanks for you continued involvement with zcash R&D. However, it is my opinion that we are in need for more practical usage of the devfund. _I think efforts should be put into delivering ZSA_. Then we can judge if there is an appetite for Stablecoins. At this stage of Zcash, further non actionable tech would only be further material that other projects would _“steal”_. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![ZcashFoundation](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/zcashfoundation/32/21548_2.png) [@ZcashFoundation](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/ZcashFoundation)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2024, 5:31pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/lets-bring-stablecoins-to-zsas/47041/110 "2024-06-24T17:31:27Z")
@vivek at the most recent meeting, the [@ZcashGrants](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/groups/zcashgrants) Committee voted to approve this proposal and has requested that you provide monthly updates via the forum in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![januszgrze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/aeb1de/32.png) [@januszgrze](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/januszgrze)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2024, 12:51pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/lets-bring-stablecoins-to-zsas/47041/111 "2024-06-26T12:51:41Z")
I want to echo this point as I think this grant is a waste of money. Looking to stables to be a solution that saves zcash is borderline insanity. There is: 1. Likely no way that stablecoin issuers will work with Zcash. You can use technologies on Ethereum that are much better suited to enable “private”, compliant stablecoins. 2. Likely no way that even if the tech, plus relevant partnerships, existed that we can take marketshare away from Tron, Ethereum, Solana, etc. Just build a multi-currency wallet with some swapping solution in the back end. If users swap zec for stables, then use that data point to justify a grant like this. ---
**Author:** ![skyl](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/skyl/32/2938_2.png) [@skyl](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/skyl)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 2:28am UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/lets-bring-stablecoins-to-zsas/47041/112 "2024-06-27T02:28:51Z")
Maybe this works out in the end. But, Zcash community needs to work on the definition of done. “Done” in my world means merged, in production, and at least 1 customer giving a thumbs up that it does what they want. If it has been decided that there is some inconvenient cutover that needs to happen because it is blocking everything, some \>70% of resources should be devoted to that cutover until it’s “done” done. \>$600,000 for a couple of research papers in the current circumstances doesn’t seem frugal. Hopefully I’m wrong and this investment pays off. But, I would rather see the resources for: 1. Deprecate zcashd 2. Deliver improvements to mainnet that will make further improvements easier 3. Finish ZSAs 4. Documentation 5. Build improvements, devops, CI/CD 6. SDKs 7. … Fewer papers, more improvements to main IMO. ---
**Author:** ![noamchom](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/noamchom/32/20269_2.png) [@noamchom](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/noamchom)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 2:14pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/lets-bring-stablecoins-to-zsas/47041/113 "2024-06-27T14:14:30Z")
> [@januszgrze](#): > > I want to echo this point as I think this grant is a waste of money. Looking to stables to be a solution that saves zcash is borderline insanity. I agree with a lot of your concerns, but I still support the ZSA/ Zstablecoin initiative. It is the most cohesive way for Zcash to actually support the _private digital cash_ use case that Josh/ ECC continue to try and force ZEC into. ZEC is not designed for use as private digital cash, so that means Zcash needs something that is: **stablecoins** The crypto world already has plenty of stablecoins, so what next? Zcash must provide quality distinction for its stablecoin implementation. That is where ZSA comes in. We’re attempting to let Zcash users become stablecoiners with the cutting edge Zcash L1 zkp technologies. Yep, it is very ambitious, Yes, there are perpetual regulatory and compliance risks, and Yes, it will not be cheap, fast, or easy to get _ **done** _. But if we’re never giving up on the private digital cash use case, then private, local stablecoins/ stable assets are a critical part of the equation. > [@januszgrze](#): > > Likely no way that even if the tech, plus relevant partnerships, existed that we can take marketshare away from Tron, Ethereum, Solana, etc. We can’t target those markets because those are all programmable L1s, meant to be built on/ meant for entire crypto 2,3,4 application layers/ economies. The Zcash stablecoin market would more closely resemble the market for people today who prefer to hold physical cash or metals (private fiat/ private SoV-wealth). ---
**Author:** ![ambimorph](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/ambimorph/32/26890_2.png) [@ambimorph](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/ambimorph)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 4:00pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/lets-bring-stablecoins-to-zsas/47041/114 "2024-06-27T16:00:43Z")
This grant covers the first part of the ZSA roadmap. The choices were: Fund the entire thing at $2.2mm, including the ZIPs first. Don’t fund it at all. Fund it in stages. There was never a proposal to implement ZSAs without first writing a ZIP. The ZIP is a community sanity check and consensus mechanism for upgrade inclusions. The idea that the ZIP provides “material that other projects would steal”, implies and acknowledges that the ZIP contains real, valuable work, in which case we should have no problem funding it. Advocating for implementation first, keeping development discussions secret until they are revealed by the implementation prevents the cooperation we need as a community. And it doesn’t prevent “stealing”. If I recall correctly, we had a mechanism for trying to slow the ability for other projects to reuse Zcash code via the BOSL license , but it was widely despised and eventually removed. ---
**Author:** ![vivek](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/vivek/32/19682_2.png) [@vivek](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/vivek)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2024, 11:12am UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/lets-bring-stablecoins-to-zsas/47041/115 "2024-07-01T11:12:06Z")
Sure, we will provide monthly updates here! To start with, we’d like to point to our work on a [proof-of-concept](https://github.com/QED-it/halo2_verifiable_encryption/tree/main) for implementing verifiable encryption over Halo2, and a draft [write-up](https://github.com/QED-it/halo2_verifiable_encryption/blob/main/src/Verifiable_Encryption_using_Halo2.pdf) for the same. We’d love to hear comments from the community, and we encourage you to do so on the GitHub repo. ---
**Author:** ![emersonian](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/emersonian/32/42565_2.png) [@emersonian](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/emersonian)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 7:35pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/lets-bring-stablecoins-to-zsas/47041/116 "2024-07-15T19:35:32Z")
While holding immense respect for Qedit and their team, I firmly oppose this work. There is an ongoing discussion in an adjacent thread. I want to make sure that all participants in this thread have a chance to contribute to it: > [@The Cambrian Interface Explosion](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/the-cambrian-interface-explosion/48238/31): > > This is the order of operations I propose: Pause Qedit’s work on ZSA surveillance, focus their highly-qualified engineering resources elsewhere. Deploy the ZSA standard to mainnet. Watch and learn how developers are building and issuing ZSAs in the real world (someone might launch a wrapped DAI as the chain’s first stablecoin token, for example, alongside wBTC and plenty of memes) Poll early ZSA users and developers on whether they need or want this surveillance feature. If so, fund it. Is th… ---
**Author:** ![aquietinvestor](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/aquietinvestor/32/34528_2.png) [@aquietinvestor](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/aquietinvestor)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2024, 8:14pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/lets-bring-stablecoins-to-zsas/47041/117 "2024-07-17T20:14:00Z")
I’m crossposting the response below to ensure all relevant information is included in this thread. > [@The Cambrian Interface Explosion](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/the-cambrian-interface-explosion/48238/60): > > Update: After discussing the community’s feedback on QEDIT’s stablecoin proposal, **ZCG has decided to cancel the grant. It is evident that further discussions between QEDIT and the protocol engineering teams are needed, and that more time is required to gather additional community feedback on this project**. ZCG may reallocate some of the approved funding to other projects that QEDIT can oversee, such as asset swaps, deprecation of zcashd, and other ecosystem priorities. > > ZCG acknowledges a breakdown in communication. We misunderstood the technical requirements necessary for the implementation. Additionally, we assumed certain conversations had taken place between QEDIT and the protocol engineers, and that the engineers and community were aware of QEDIT’s grant proposal and the forum discussions. This was not the case, which indicates that we need to improve our communication strategies. > > To remedy this, **going forward we will take a more active role in the Arborist calls. We will make certain that all technical grants are brought to the attention of ecosystem developers and engineers to gather their feedback on the technical merits of the proposals and assess any potential risks**. We will also aim to ensure that other stakeholders in the Zcash community are properly engaged on proposals that impact the protocol. > > We recognize our shortcomings and apologize to the community for this oversight. ZCG is a part-time committee with a 15-hour monthly commitment. We are doing our best to fulfill our directive with the limited resources available. > > We appreciate the community for raising their concerns. We take community feedback very seriously and are committed to addressing the issues raised. We will do our part to ensure something like this does not happen again in the future. [Previous page](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/lets-bring-stablecoins-to-zsas/47041.md?page=5)