ReadyMouse for ZCG (December 2025)

Governance ZCG Elections
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Hello, I’m Mylo Bennett.

Why I Want to Serve on ZCG: Having written and won $18M+ in technical proposals, I understand both sides of the grant process, what makes a compelling proposal and what leads to successful execution. As a PM overseeing engineering teams, I’ve evaluated countless technical milestones and learned to distinguish between promising ideas and deliverable roadmaps. I’m comfortable saying “no” to technically impressive but impractical proposals. ZCG has finite resources and I want to help ensure we fund projects that actually ship and move the needle.

Passion for Zcash: To me, it feels like Bitcoin is a religion, Ethereum is a utility, but Zcash is a currency. The Zashi team has done an amazing job at creating an actually useable app for transacting in the world with practical applications. I want to spend my time and effort on projects I am passionate about; projects I want to see in the world.

Vision for Zcash: I want Zcash to replace Venmo at the peer-to-peer payment systems and to become the preferred coin for point of sales systems at cafes and vendors. To get there, we need technology to scale (Tachyon), infrastructure for reliability (Crosslink), plus education and marketing. I see Crosslink as a good path forward for hybrid PoS/PoW - reducing time to finality for coffee-shop transactions while keeping PoW’s contingency mode for robustness. I’m excited for Tachyon’s rollout to improve scalability. ZECHUB is doing educational content, and I’d love to see ZCG fund more outreach, marketing, and developer relations to boost Zcash’s presence in the larger crypto ecosystem.

To Achieve the Vision:

  • Merchant adoption tools - Point-of-sale integrations, accounting software, business-facing tools that make it easy for cafes and vendors to accept ZEC
  • Education and outreach - My workshops for at-risk communities showed me the gap between tech and everyday users.
  • Mass adoption infrastructure - Payment rails, invoicing tools, recurring payment systems or accepted integration into current systems - the boring but essential infrastructure
  • Developer relations and marketing - Boost Zcash’s presence in the larger crypto and financial ecosystem
  • Accountability - Clear milestones and regular check-ins for funded projects

I fully support and will defend the inclusion of public t-addresses, as they provide transparency when desired (like charitable donations) and smooth ZEC adoption by exchanges, enabling greater DeFi inclusion and liquidity.

I’m skeptical about ZSAs (Zcash Shielded Assets). While a private stablecoin could find utility, I worry about Zcash becoming muddled with hundreds of low-quality tokens without clear use cases. I would be more excited about privacy-preserving smart contracts rather than just private tokens. Companies like Aztec (using zk-rollups), Railgun (privacy for DeFi), and Fhenix (using Fully Homomorphic Encryption) are bringing privacy to the programmable Ethereum ecosystem, and could move adoption towards these systems over Zcash. With Zcash’s core ethos of being a currency, rather than a utility for DeFi, smart contracts seem like an intriguing but later-stage consideration. An L2, like the proposed Ztarknet, might be an interesting way to add programmability without modifying the existing Zcash Layer 1 system.

Technical Background: I have a background in Mathematics, signal processing, ML and data pipelines. I spent 10 years as a defense contractor working on radar systems, writing proposals and winning over $18M in contracts. I deeply know the pain, passion, and late night cramming it takes to write a technical proposal, and then the nail-bitting wait for a response. My role as Senior Product Manager overseeing teams of engineers has given me the tools to evaluate technical progress, assess team capabilities, and understand key stakeholders. I’ve evaluated proposals from both sides - I know the red flags: overly optimistic schedules, missing expertise, vague milestones.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mylo-mbennett/

https://twitter.com/zreadymouse

Involvement in the Community:

* Collaborated with @emersonian on a [Lightwallet Node Workshop]

* Attended devConnect in Buenos Aires with @fabacab, where we onboarded +35 new Zashi users and recorded with the zk av club [@zerodartz , @pacu , @ryan.taylor ] [ Proposal for Marketing Efforts at Global Conferences ]

* Won 3rd place in the ZECHUB hackathon: Banana Betting [ ZecHub Hackathon - #6 by dismad ], a banana-themed sports betting/prediction market

* Attended major crypto events (ETHDenver, Consensus Toronto, Monerokon in Prague, devConnect in Argentina, Boston Blockchain week, Permissionless in Brooklyn) to understand the ecosystem

* Attended @paulbrigner 's PGP in DC [Twitter post] [Paul’s ZCG application for PGP]

* Partner with @fabacab to host workshops for at-risk of being de-banked community members [Workshop Forum Post]

* Attendee of my local Boston Zcash Meetup [@BostonZcash ]

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Congratulations on your nomination.

If you were a member of the ZCG, which proposals would you definitely reject, and which ones would you definitely support?

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I would not fund an emotional support group for those burned by ZEC’s price action, who then moved all their assets to BTC. But jokes aside. I want to give each proposal the opportunity to state it’s case for funding, and evaluate it’s proposed impact. I would be looking for:

  • Redundancy: Has it already been done? Or in-progress by someone else?
  • Feasibly: Can it be reasonably done? Technically, monetarily, timely?
  • Impact: Will it have the intended effect? Will that effect be positive for the community?
  • Balance: How does this project fit into the portfolio of projects funded? Does it compliment a balance of technical and non-technical (marketing, education, content) projects?
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Thanks! Good luck!

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How does your former work as United States Defense Department* contractor inform your vision for engaging with Zcash?** Do you think the differences in organizational goals are worth clarifying, or, why are you hoping to engage more with Zcash in the capacity of a political agent?

Why do you think going to a number of conferences all over the world helps you understand the real workings and needs of the Zcash ecosystem?

*The new (non-legal) name for the US DoD is the Department of War, suggested by the current President of the US.
https://www.war.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/4331116/department-of-war-name-set-in-bronze-at-pentagon-entrances/

**DoD’s stated goals are to provide the military forces needed to ensure the security of the United States. Zcash’s stated goals as stated by the ECC (whose direct predecessor launched the project) is to empower economic freedom. One is enforced by violence and threat of violence, and the other is enforced by technology and involves consensual exchange of value. How are these to be reconciled with a single value system?

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aaal,

Thank you for taking the time to look into my background, and wanting to make an informed decision.

I quit my defense job almost exactly one year ago without having another job lined up because very explicitly I no longer wanted to work for the US Military. I absolutely love radar systems because the physics is intricate, challenging and it feels like a little miracle that they work. That being said, I don’t agree with the current administration nor the way the US military is being used. I have seen many of my trans, women, and diverse friends be actively kicked out or pressed to quit, with friends still in the system reporting that the working conditions are actively getting worse. It was not an easy decision to leave a career for the unknown road ahead, with no income, but for me it was values driven.

They can not be reconciled, and as such I walked out.

I want to be part of a system that is actively working to build technology with a positive impact on the world. I honestly think zcash is a huge part of financial freedom and sovereignty. It is perhaps one of our last lines of defense against total surveillance and restrictions of freedoms. We have Signal for communications, TOR/NYM for exchange of ideas, and Zcash for financial transactions.

While working in defense, I saw quite a few projects where well-meaning scientists created technology to solve a problem they saw, but the boots on the ground left it in the mud. I saw multi-billion sensor systems never used, because the operators didn’t trust it. It had too many false alarms. In the thread of these failures, was the disconnect between the user/operator and the technologist. The user had a real need, tried to convey it but somehow it got mangled into a product that didn’t solve their problem. This is why, again and again, I will stress the importance of talking to real humans about their problems, and better yet seeing exactly their struggle by sitting next to them or walking in their shoes to find the pain points. Then to develop real solutions that are tailored and nuanced to the direct problem.

This is in reference to: Proposal for Marketing Efforts at Global Conferences

I believe no human can survive alone, we need community. Zcash is the same. To develop in isolation is to cut yourself off from the innovations and ideas of others. While this can happen online, it can more readily happen in person. But largely I think, bringing in new people requires human, face-to-face interaction. When we engage with people, and see their struggles we can better develop technologies to support them. When we collaborate with others, we can create better solutions than if we imagined them alone.

When in Prague for MoneroKon, there was a zcash dinner that happened with at least 3 members actively contributing to the codebase. At Boston Blockchain Week, I met with 3 other zcashers who are active in the community. In Buenos Aires, I made friends with the ZK AV Club, and met at least 4 others. In each interaction I learned more about the people and technology, the organizations and inner workings of the ZECHUB, ECC, Zcash Foundation community. These relationships will give me people to reach out to when I have nuanced technical questions. In a decentralized community, this is the way that we meet our co-workers, even if not actively working on the same projects.

To echo my former sentiments that are still true: One thing I’ve discovered for myself over the years, is that changing minds has to start with heart-to-heart moments where you take the time to listen and engage in meaningful conversations. It’s very hard to build trust and connection in 150 characters; you need deep heart-to-heart conversations to meet people where they are at. Then people will see how the solution you hold fits into their lives, and contributes value. Only then can we both see them as human, and develop technologies they truly need in their lives. I think Zashi is a wonderful example of technology that is tailored for the problem of secure peer-to-peer payments. Now we need to get it into the hands of the masses.

I deeply don’t want to build technology that is going to hurt people nor tech that is going to be uselessly left in the mud. That’s why I’m passionate about Zcash, it’s truly a unique technology that solves real problems for real people. It’s encrypted Venmo, it’s banking resources for the underrepresented, marginalized and often de-banked communities. It’s banking and financial access for all. As human needs change and evolve, so too I hope zcash grows and evolves. I’d like to help shape that future.

Even if I don’t get elected, I still plan to be around the community, because this is technology that is deeply essential to the continuation of financial and human freedom. If anything, watching my transgender active-duty friends get striped of rank, job, healthcare, childcare, and housing with a single pen stroke is even more motivation to ensure they don’t also get striped of bank accounts too.

Thanks for taking the time to considering me for the ZCG.

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