# November 2, 2018 - Weekly update (Community + Comms)

**URL:** <https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/november-2-2018-weekly-update-community-comms/31812>\
**Category:** Weekly Forum Updates\
**Created:** [November 2, 2018, 1:12pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/november-2-2018-weekly-update-community-comms/31812 "2018-11-02T13:12:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![elisehamdon](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/elisehamdon/32/30269_2.png) [@elisehamdon](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/elisehamdon)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 1:12pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/november-2-2018-weekly-update-community-comms/31812/1 "2018-11-02T13:12:57Z")

</div>

This is our fortnightly community and communications update, for the latest update on the engineering front, check out [last week’s update](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/october-26-2018-weekly-update-engineering/31706).

Exciting news this week! The Zcash Sapling network upgrade activated at block height 419200. Sapling introduces new shielded addresses with significantly improved performance: a time reduction of 90% for constructing transactions, and a memory reduction of over 97%. More details are [available here.](https://z.cash/blog/sapling-activation-complete/)

Sapling received lots of great press; here are just a few among the many:

- [“Empowering Everyone”: ZCash Sapling Protocol Goes Live](https://ethereumworldnews.com/empowering-everyone-zcash-sapling-protocol-goes-live/)
- [Sapling on Zcash (ZEC) is Working, and it’s a Big Deal](https://www.newsbtc.com/2018/10/30/sapling-on-zcash-zec-is-working-and-its-a-big-deal/)
- [ZEC Users Should Upgrade to Newest Zcash Client with Sapling, HD Key Gen and Mainnet Support](https://bitcoinexchangeguide.com/zec-users-should-upgrade-to-newest-zcash-client-with-sapling-hd-key-gen-and-mainnet-support/)

[Happy Birthday Zcash!](https://twitter.com/zcashco/status/1056582636641103872) Sapling activation coincided with the two-year birthday of Zcash. This brings us one step closer to widespread adoption of an open, permissionless and private payment system.

On October 30, [the Zcash Foundation and Parity Technologies announced a technical partnership](https://z.cash.foundation/blog/parity-partnership/) to build a consensus-compatible Zcash node. Parity plans to devote significant development resources to the project, using Parity Bitcoin as a starting point and writing in the Rust programming language. The Zcash Foundation will contribute its own engineers as the organization’s hiring and community funding processes allow.

**From the blog**

We released a blog post last week about the implementation of shielded HD wallets: [Sapling in HD](https://z.cash/blog/sapling-in-hd/). The HD wallet technology for Sapling addresses is complementary to the faster SNARKs improvements, particularly regarding usability and private key security.

The Perspectives series included [a special birthday edition](https://z.cash/blog/perspectives-on-zcash-origins-from-tromer/) last week, featuring Eran Tromer speaking about Zcash origins and cryptography.

This week the blog featured an exciting introduction to progress on the Zcash Reference Wallet: [Introducing the Zcash Reference Wallet.](https://z.cash/blog/introducing-the-zcash-reference-wallet/)

**Events**

On October 31st, Brad Miller and Marshall Gaucher spoke at the [San Francisco Devs Meetup](https://www.meetup.com/SF-Cryptocurrency-Devs/events/252714198/); a video link will be available next week.

On November 1st, Zooko Wilcox presented at DevCon4: [“Privacy for Everyone.”](https://guidebook.com/guide/117233/event/21955917/)

**Spotlight**

The Zcash Foundation hosted an informative livestream in the hours surrounding Sapling activation, attended by many Zcash Company team members. The [recording is available here.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtIYLqHfbSk&feature=youtu.be) There is a bit of fun included in the footage as well, with Zooko creating his Halloween costume on-camera over the course of the discussion.

Check out this activation ecosystem retrospective from our ecosystem team: [Sapling Launch Ecosystem Recap](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/sapling-launch-ecosystem-recap/31757)

Zooko was interviewed by Breaker magazine and the article made a strong case for privacy coins: [Zooko Wilcox Says Regulators Like the Privacy of Zcash](https://breakermag.com/zooko-wilcox-says-regulators-like-the-privacy-of-zcash/)