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.