Prof. J.W. Verret, JD, CPA/CFF for the ZF Board

Hey Rucknium, thanks for the feedback.

My description of Monero as seeking to accommodate DeFi was based on listening to the Monero Talk podcast interviewing the founder of Serai. And he seemed to view his project as a sort of native-Monero DeFi project. But you may be correct that my description was inaccurate in my prior post.

I take your point that it is early days in DeFi, particularly with respect to DeFi touching the fiat economy. But the MakerDao loan of $100 million to Huntingdon Bank gives me hope that DeFi is on a path to touch the fiat economy as it develops an economy of its own.

And in any event, whatever growth trajectory DeFi is on, DeFi needs a privacy solution, and I want to help the effort to ensure that Zcash is that solution.

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I reached out to the Zcash international handles on twitter to ask for feedback about how we can help them.

Twitter handles are maybe a rough cut on how to encourage international feedback to Zcash forum but it’s a start.

Here’s feedback so far on this thread:

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Welcome @ProfJWVerret! Just logged to say that I think he would make a great addition to the ZF Board.

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I am extremely excited on @ProfJWVerret ‘s nomination for a seat on the Zcash Foundations’ Board of Directors.

I have been following his work for some time (from the viral video confronting Gary Gensler here to the great Op Ed in the WSJ here).

He has truly a distinguished background in accounting, finance, securities, corporate, banking law and economics. He also has extensive experience of working with and within government and in the corporate world. A fierce defender and advocate for Economic Privacy, Sovereignty and Freedom. open minded, articulate, constructive, competent and energetic. He is a committed supporter and active Zcasher. He even has three different CPZ for different modes here

The perfect mix of degen and suit (if I may…)

I believe he will be a great addition to the Zcash Foundation BoD with his vast skillset.

I support Professor JW Verret

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I support J.W. Verret, he should be a great addition to the ZF.

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Thanks JRGB. I try to live up to your description of “The perfect mix of degen and suit.” Appreciate you saying that, that’s my goal ser. Seems like a mullet “business in the front, party in the back” meme is necessary, will crowdsource that with an ask to our community for their favorite.

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I support his nomination. Cheers!

From my preliminary research you seem like a good fit for the board. I like that you are a ZEC user. I like that you have spent some time in the Cosmos ecosystem because I personally believe the Zcash ecosystem is headed that direction ala IBC.

responsibilities can be summarized as:

  • hiring, firing and supervising the Executive Director (ED),
  • providing guidance and advice to the ED, and
  • having bold visions about the Foundation’s mission and future, and working with the ED to assist him execute on them.

Some in the community feel the board has been performing sub-par and want change. If there was one thing you could fight for that you feel is missing from the current board, what would it be?

Thanks for reading :zebra:

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Thanks dismad. Are you and others with that view able to share a little more detail on those prior concerns?

I have a more favorable viewpoint actually, but It’s not just about what I think. More recently a thread was started and since jailed and member banned. I’d start there with what some members have been thinking about. ( I dont have access to that )

I should note while how they presented their thoughts was Not good, they still have an opinion that is important to them. My hope is that you try and understand why they feel the way they do. ( for details maybe a mod can fill you in ? )

I would be guided by the principle that getting the word out about privacy means respecting everyone’s views on non-crypto issues and not getting distracted with the politics that seems to otherwise infect everything these days. We must focus on mission that privacy is for everyone, privacy is normal, and privacy is about consent.

To questions about Dev fund, ECC, ZF, ZG, and the debates ongoing about the design of the infrastructure, I want to learn more from the community and I want to learn more from folks at each organization (when the time is right to talk with them), before taking any position.

Let me know what you think here on this thread. Or privately on a memo to my z address above.

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@ProfJWVerret Personally while I’m supportive of what ZF has been able to achieve with the funds they have spent I question whether ZF need a minor/mediocre reset and think more carefully about their “north star”.

My concern is that when people question ZF around their objectives these 3 strategic objectives usually are mentioned. When I proceed to question ZF on how they are going about achieving the final objective of making Zcash smarter I get told the major obstacle ZF has is financial.

ZF currently has $16m worth of liquid assets (according to Q2 financial statement).

Given QEDIT’s massive progress towards making Zcash smarter for a mere $1.2m what has ZF done to make Zcash smarter? Why can’t/couldn’t ZF spare $1m or $2m and fund work like this to make Zcash smarter (as either internal or external development)? If @dodger wants to advocate that making Zcash smarter is a strategic objectives then ZF has to follow through with actions to make progress toward this objective. If that means they have to use some of the $16m of liquid assets they are sitting on then they should! If making Zcash smarter isn’t important enough to spend their assets on then ZF should remove it from their strategic objectives.

Presently ECC and QEDIT have visibly done far more towards achieving this object then ZF has. Having poor strategic objectives makes me question what else internally at ZF is being treated as some “hand wavy” idea without a clear path or roadmap forward. But without being privy to any of that info, especially since ZF don’t publish roadmaps, then I don’t really have a way to “hand wave” away some of @Dodger’s statement that don’t seem to match up.

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(Just to clarify: it’s the ECC’s North Star which is a longterm UX design objective aimed at ease of usability, I assume it underscores halo ARC but I dont know about it’s current status ECC’s North Star: Building a world-class UX for ZEC - Electric Coin Company )

The fact you even need to clarify shows of the confusion of who is really running the show (and it’s not the community – that part is clear).

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Let me try to summarise the concerns the community has around clear strategic objectives and roadmaps being an issue by simply linking to the most liked post on the topic (I could find).

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To prevent taking this thread too far off-topic I’ve created a new thread. ZF hold $16m USD in assets

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I read the post from Zooko that started that discussion when it first went up and I have pondered it since.

I have a lot more to learn from (hopefully) future colleagues at ZF and from the community, but I can say that some of these arguments register. When I told a friend and mentor crypto lawyer that I was interested in joining this board, he expressed similar sentiments about Zcash to what Zooko described in that thread that he had heard from others.

Some on the forum and telegram have read a lot more into Peter’s tweet than is fair, he’s a lion for the privacy fight, he’s volunteered on ZF board for a long time, he deserves the community’s respect. And I think another commenter in that thread had it right, his comment was likely more about keeping BTC maxis focused than anything else.

Shielded assets is an awesome project, I hope we do it because I can’t wait to use it. I am not a technical expert, but it also sounds smart to make sure that some value accrues to ZEC holders. I have read a number of critiques of Cosmos 1.0 and of Avalanche that worry about lack of value accrual to native token, it seems smart to stay focused on that aspect, and I know that an economic study has been funded by some of my colleagues at the GMU economics department that I need to spend more time studying.

I also love that there is some funding going on for a Tor specific project. One benefit of ZF is it can invest in longer vision work that isn’t always ZEC specific in the short term, but it also seems many feel there are ways ZF can help ZEC that are consistent with the non-profit mission as well.

I know you want something more concrete, I don’t have that right now. All I can say is that I respect the ZF board members and the work they’ve done that I’ve followed for a long time, I want to be a bridge between them and the community, and that I appreciate the community’s perspective that hopes to sharper the ZF focus toward ZEC long-term and in a manner consistent with ZF’s 501(c)3 status.

I want to keep an open channel to anyone with respectful ideas about where ZF should focus, I’ve appreciated all the thoughts on this thread and that some have sent to my z-address. Keep those ideas coming!

I’d like to do a twitter spaces discussion with the community soon, would anyone be interested in that?

I hope this opportunity works out. If it doesn’t, I’ll look for another opportunity to get involved in Zcash. This protocol is more important to me than anything else in crypto.

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Hopefully my most recent reply can assist you in understanding my current frustrations on the topic. Maybe you can help fix some of these issue :crossed_fingers:. ZF hold $16m USD in assets - #11 by GGuy

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Thanks for the guidance. Looking forward to more in the community call that is coming soon.

Sharing a substack newsletter I published in early August in response to the OFAC designation of Tornado Cash. This is a verbatim copy of a letter I sent to OFAC three days after the designation, demanding guidance. I am planning a suit against OFAC shortly. Blockprof - by J.W. Verret - BlockProf. This is maybe a useful window into the policy fights I am bringing in DC.

I am grateful for the opportunity to serve on the ZF Board. This is such a welcoming community. I won’t let you down. You can reach me on telegram at the handle cryptolawprof anytime with your thoughts, or through a shielded memo to the z address I made public in this chain.

I won’t be posting thoughts under this handle anymore. I might instead be using a slightly less conspicuous handle that starts with a z, and is a name for cajun/creole music.

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