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Hi Zeeps.
Grab some headphones.
Press play.
Let’s chill and reflect for a few minutes together.
2024 has been a year of change and new beginnings:
for Zcash, for our community, for ECC.
We at ECC stand here today, emboldened with resolve and clarity. We have achieved much this year and positioned to achieve much more ahead.
Our vision at ECC is clear. We will carry on the legacy of the cypherpunks and Satoshi to deliver private peer-to-peer electronic cash.
To do that, we need to build a new system outside the old system.
In 2024, we launched a beautiful platform in Zashi that unlocks onboarding with Coinbase, retail payments with Flexa, and hardware wallet support with Keystone. As the year ends, we have over 20k installs and strong ratings.
Our approach to vertical integration is leading to innovations such as PCZTs, synchronization performance, and driving new protocol R&D plans for scalability, instant payments, ZSAs, and post-quantum.
ECC has been reorganized and built to deliver faster, engage more freely, collaborate, learn, and adapt.
As a Zcash community, we’re more decentralized. Governance is in the hands of more people. Funding is no longer guaranteed for the incumbents. We’ve aligned around a path to shedding the baggage of our legacy consensus node. And, more people and organizations are contributing to the core protocol, community development, education, marketing, and supporting applications.
A look back through the year
I can’t possibly list all of the achievements and highlights from the community this year. I’d be here all night! But here are a few from my vantage point at ECC:
Jan 01: I posted a functional UX on Jan 1 as a baseline for future conversations that would drive the direction of our work.
Jan 29: ECC opened its doors to the Zcash community for Zeboot, in what would become a semi-annual event for collective workshops and roadmap planning. This event set the tone for a new ECC and our path for 2024.
Feb 20: ZCG approved a grant to bring ZEC to the Maya DEX.
Mar 01: ECC released our first quarterly roadmap.
Mar 17: The ZURE research report was released, and it proved to be a key input into our roadmap for Zashi.
Mar 21: Brave rolled out support for transparent ZEC in their browser wallet.
Mar 25: I proposed a new governance and funding structure, the zBloc.
Mar 28: Zashi iOS 1.0 released. New ECC site published.
Apr 17: ECC released its Q2 roadmap.
Apr 26: Despite the continued attack on privacy, we will continue to paint the sky.
Apr 27: ZURE Zcash user community event.
April 28: Zashi Android 1.0 released.
April 29: ECC announces its intention to end the trademark agreement with the Zcash Foundation to decentralize governance further.
May 01: ECC announces it will no longer accept direct funding from the Zcash protocol to drive greater financial accountability in the ecosystem.
May 06: ZconV
May 28: The shielded pool hit a new ATH of 1.4M.
Jul 02: ECC endorsed the lockbox proposal for a deferred non-direct development fund.
Jul 08: ECC hosts the Z|ECC summit as the next community and ECC set of workshops and planning sessions.
Jul 08: ZEC/BTC pair two-year trend reversal.
Jul 15: The shielded pool hit a new ATH of 1.78M.
Jul 17: Kicked off conversations with Keystone about adding shielded ZEC support.
Aug 01: After an intense season of discussions and polling, the Zcash community finds consensus on the year ahead and a non-direct funding model.
Aug 09: ECC formally terminates the trademark agreement.
Aug 22: Zashi update with currency conversion, TEX addresses, and transparent history.
Sep 19: Zashi update with Coinbase integration
Oct 24: Lesson from Zcash at the DC Privacy Summit
Oct 28: Zcash’s 8th birthday!
Nov 09: The shielded pool hit a new ATH of 1.8M.
Nov 19: Zashi launches in Spanish.
Nov 23: The second Zcash halvening and activation of NU6.
Nov 26: Zashi launches with Flexa, allowing non-custodial shielded ZEC payments at thousands of retail locations. I’m claiming that my daughter made the first payment using the production release.
Dec 09: Naval gets it.
Dec 19: Zashi launches with Keystone hardware wallet support.
What were your highlights? What did I miss?
This is my last post for the year. I’ve enjoyed ending each week by writing to you. Someone asked me about my process. Most weeks, I simply sit down, put on music, and start typing notes. Sometimes, I scribble things over the week that I return to. Sometimes, I have no idea what I intend to write down before I begin. Sometimes, I think of things you all are doing that inspire me. I hope that a few of these updates have inspired you.
To my team at ECC: Andrea, Daira-Emma, Dan, Janie, Kris, Greg, Lukas, Honza, Jolene, Larry, Milan, Pablo, Ronni, Str4d, Tatyana, Tony, Yasser. I love you all and am proud to stand and work with you. What an amazing year. I think you know how much you all mean to me.
Thank you to the Bootstrap Board of Directors, who trusted me with this role and who have steadfastly supported and encouraged me all year: Alan, Christina, Michelle, Paul, and Zaki. Your belief has been empowering.
To you in the community who have worked so hard on your own initiatives, and collaborated with us along the way, thank you. So many names. So many heroes. You inspire me. We are building something special together—a legacy of freedom through Zcash.
To you in the community who have publicly and privately sent me notes of encouragement and support, thank you. You fueled me.
2025 is shaping up to be another massive year for Zcash. Is your body ready?
So now it’s time to press pause.
Take a breath or two.
Smile.
And when you are ready,
come back,
PRESS PLAY.
And hold on, because 2025 is going to be a banger!
Here’s how ECC wrapped up the year:
Zashi
Zashi Design
- Continuing Home Screen redesign, Send/Receive screens redesign
- Continued designs for Maya Integration → Swap)…
- Edits and adjustments to Zashi video screens (intro, title, outro)
- Edits and adjustments to in-app Keystone promo designs
- Continue working on Balance redesign (access point and syncing)
Zashi iOS
- Keystone Integration:
- Finished and delivered Zashi 1.3
- Helped with promo image and videos
- Extensively tested Keystone firmware betas, provided feedback and data for all the iterations
- Helped Android team set up CLI and discover issues
- Kudos and BIG THANKS to Kris and Jack for many pairings with me, last week was just awesome
- Onward!
- Finished and delivered Zashi 1.3
Analytics Update:
Unique Installs: 5.34k
Total Downloads: 6.28k
AppStore Rating: 4.9*
Zashi Android
-
Keystone Integration:
- Tested the implementation and fixed several issues
- Released SDK version 2.2.7 with multi-account and PCZT support
- Prepared release version 1.3
- Improved Create Wallet and Restore Wallet paths
- Optimized Send screen
- Created several new reusable business logic components
Analytics Update:
Total Install Base: 3.04k
Total Installs (incl. Open Beta): 11.2k
PlayStore Rating: 4.622*
Zcash Core
Keystone!
[a couple hours sleep]
Keystone!
[a couple hours sleep]
Keystone!
Other
Tony and I were in DC for the Blockchain Association annual summit this week. I posted a few notes from Day 1. Nice Zcash shoutout from Congressman Davidson.
I was on an X spaces today, hosted by the AMP community and leaders from Ampera, Flexa, Dash, WIF, Solflare, and Nighthawk. Good cross-project education and great vibes.
A little behind-the-scenes at ECC the morning of the Keystone launch.
I met with Jon at Qedit to get updates on timelines.
Met with Jason at Shielded Labs to catch up on NSM and community polling.
We are in interviews for a new strategic marketing manager.
We’re looking for someone to join our core team. Check out the job description and apply here.
Happy new year everyone!
Wishing you all love and peace,
Onward.
