Mastering Zcash Video Series

Community Grants Applications
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GitHub proposal: Grant Application - Mastering Zcash Video Series · Issue #263 · ZcashCommunityGrants/zcashcommunitygrants · GitHub

Hey everyone! I’m Max. Earlier this year I released Mastering Zcash, which to my knowledge is one of the most comprehensive educational pieces about Zcash, covering its technology, cryptography, economics, and governance. It took months of writing, and was kindly reviewed by both Zooko and Kris Nuttycombe when it was published. I received a lot of positive feedback over the past few months, and it was even generously recently translated into Spanish by César Oswaldo Navarro, a Zcash community member.

I’m now turning it into a professional video series and applying for a ZCG grant to help make it happen.

The pitch: 11 pieces of professionally produced content, 8 YouTube videos (8-15 min each) and 3 podcast episodes (~1 hour each), every single one specifically about Zcash. This is just the start, with the goal of building an ongoing Zcash video presence and finding a sponsor (aligned with Zcash’s values) that could reduce the reliance on grant funding and help make this sustainable.

The budget: $23,500. That’s $2,136 per piece of content. I’ve independently secured over $11,000 in professional production equipment (dual Sony FX30 cinema cameras, Shure SM7dB mics, studio lighting, teleprompter, the works) and none of that is in the grant. ZCG funds cover only my time, and a professional editor with thousands of hours of experience with a client list that includes Jon Youshaei.

The timeline: Production starts June 2026. Conservative milestones at July 31, October 31, and December 31. I expect to deliver ahead of schedule, but don’t want to rush through things as I want the quality bar to exceptionally high.

The accountability:

  • $0 startup funding, I begin production before receiving a single dollar
  • Milestone payments requested only after videos are publicly live on YouTube
  • Bi-weekly progress updates right here on this thread
  • If a deadline needs to move, you’ll hear about it before it happens, not after
  • Any editing budget surplus gets reinvested into additional Zcash content

The content:

Titles are tentative and purposely made to catch people’s attention, the goal here is really to get Zcash in front of people who are currently not into it, not just offer content for existing Zcash community members. Podcast guests are tentative, and if it doesn’t work out due to scheduling issues etc., episodes with guests of equivalent caliber can be arranged.

  1. “How Zcash Actually Works”
  2. “zk-SNARKs Explained Like You’re 5”
  3. “Zcash vs Monero: The Privacy Coin War Nobody Talks About”
  4. “Why Quantum Computers Can’t Break Zcash”
  5. “AI Will Deanonymize You. Zcash Won’t Let It.”
  6. “The $11 Trillion Offshore Market Zcash Could Capture”
  7. “FROST: The Wallet Tech That Makes Zcash Unhackable”
  8. “Why Bitcoin Maxis Are Wrong About Privacy”
  9. Podcast: “Why Billionaires Are Betting on Zcash” (ft. Will McEvoy)
  10. Podcast: “The Cryptographer Who Designed Zcash’s Privacy” (ft. Sean Bowe)
  11. Podcast: “Why Zcash Needs a Killer App” (ft. Josh Swihart)

Happy to answer any questions. Full details in the GitHub proposal.

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Zcash Community Grants Meeting Minutes 4/13/2026
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Max has my full support with this grant application. He already showed that he can deliver high quality work with “Mastering Zcash” and at this price point this proposal seems like a no-brainer to me.

And honestly I would also like to see this videos and podcasts myself :slightly_smiling_face:

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Very cool, your timeline is quite ambitious have you already started this work? Either way, you have my full support, I’m bullish education. What age and/or grade level are you targeting? Also for the FROST section I hope you demo Zkool or ZF’s FROST server.

Good luck! :student:

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Thank you @dismad!

Yes, filming itself starts in May but I have already started writing the scripts. The scripts themselves are adapted from Mastering Zcash, so there’s no cold-start research phase, which saves a lot of time.

The target is anyone interested in crypto who doesn’t yet understand Zcash, so not academic or overly technical, but not dumbed down either.

Great suggestion! I have actually been thinking quite a bit about how to do the FROST video, as FROST is very underrepresented in the current “zeitgeist” of the community IMO and unlocks a lot of very interesting use cases. Will definitely look into doing a demo with a FROST server.

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Love this, full support!

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Educational content is one of the highest ROI investments for Zcash right now. Most people still don’t understand shielded transactions or unified addresses at a practical level. Video fills that gap faster than docs.

The podcast addition is smart. Different format, different reach.

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@maxdesalle at the most recent meeting, ZCG voted to approve this proposal. Congratulations!

To keep the community informed, ZCG requests that you provide monthly updates via the forum in this thread.

Please check your forum inbox for a direct message from FPF with important next steps, including a link to the Milestone Payment Request Form and your unique validation code for submitting payment requests.

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Thank you so much! Very excited to deliver on this. I will not disappoint!

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Bi-weekly update

What I’ve done over the past two weeks:

  1. Moved forward in the script writing process.
  2. While not covered by this grant, all the audio/camera equipment has been delivered.
  3. Have already started looking into potential sponsors to help make this sustainable after all the grant deliverables are met.

What I’m doing over the next two weeks:

  1. Finish the first two scripts.
  2. Get fully accustomed with the audio/video gear equipment to help ensure exceptional recording quality.

Will post the next update in two weeks. Always open to feedback in the meantime.

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