Leaving my notes on this retroactive grant vote to help participates get context for how I think about these votes.
1) ZChat - The First Working Zcash-Native Private Messenger
Grant amount: $5000
My vote: Approve
I generally think its a good idea to encourage early stage experimentation on Zcash. Given the grant amount is appropriate for experimentation I will be voting to approve this grant.
My concerns:
- I was not able to get the web version fully working, I trust that others have been able to use the product. Given the small grant size am not going to put more effort into testing it.
- I don’t think the Zcash blockchain is suitable to support a full messaging backend given scale constraints and the low txn value of a single chat message. I suspect a hybrid messaging backend secured by Zcash would make more sense (maybe Nostr or GunDB). Will leave that consideration up to the builders.
- Would like to see this become a more secure wallet with cross platform support. The web version has browser based key storage. Lacks iOS support. Generally I think more wallets are good for Zcash especially if they have new use case focus.
2) zec-pay.com
Grant amount: $22,600
My vote: Reject
At first glance, this is a transparent pay server, but actually it solely converts t-ZEC and BTC into Shielded ZEC, so it is designed to support an increase of conversions to to shielded ZEC. In principle I like this idea, however there are problems with the implementation that cause me to vote to reject this grant:
- The service appears to be entirely custodial, accepting BTC or t-ZEC onto their server and sending shielded ZEC. Shielding of ZEC can be done via any non-custodial wallet. Swapping of BTC to ZEC can be done via decentralized swaps such as Near intents or Maya.
- Due to the custodial nature of the project, it may be collecting user information. There is no mention of any attempt to mitigate user privacy, and the service lacks a privacy policy.
- The code is not open or available and is not audited, so the tech itself does not benefit the community.
- There is no API or method for shops or ecommerce devs to integrate the service.
- There is no traction with partners or plan to partner with any existing pay servers that service ecommerce platforms.
- There are already several ZEC pay servers available, so this not adding to “experimentation” on Zcash.
Because of the above, a custodial proprietary shielding service with no traction does not seem to add value to Zcash. If seeking a grant in the future I would like to see either a more decentralized privacy preserving approach or real business traction.
3) Maya Protocol Advanced Shielded ZEC Support
Grant amount: $45,000
My vote: Approve
Maya is the #2 source of decentralized liquidity for ZEC. Strong support of all improvements on this integration. This grant is enables receiving from and sending to shielded addresses.
Would like to see shielding on Maya in the future! Would also like to figure out how to support more Maya ZEC integrations and liquidity.
Grant amount: $50,000
My vote: Reject
ZK Email as a feature does not fit with any Zcash initiatives I am aware of. Core contributor str4d notes that this technology would not be of use within Zcash. Core contributor Daira notes the research paper lacks detail and may have faulty security assumptions.
The development team seems to have worked on this in collaboration with Axiom, 0xPARC, and EF PSE who have covered some of the costs but not all.
Given that this grants system is designed to support Zcash only and not any arbitrary zk technology, I reject this vote and suggest the proposer ask for reimbursement from the original commissioners of this project.
5) zcash.me
Grant amount: $7,200
My vote: Approve
Approving based on the principle of encouraging early stage experimentation on Zcash and the grant amount being in line with experiment stage.
In addition, I visited the Network School outside of Singapore and noted that this team had onboarded many of the participants to ZODL. I was delighted to learn that I was able to pay for many goods and services in ZEC. This is outside the scope of the grant, but I the non-tangible efforts of onboarding new users to Zcash are I think material to the intentions of the team.
Concerns:
- Website is susceptible to a man-in-the-middle attack where receiving addresses can be replaced on the website’s frontend
- Exposing public keys increases Quantum attack surface
I encourage the team to continue iterating on the product and onboarding new users to Zcash.
6) Pepper-Sync
Grant amount: $461,000
My vote: Reject
The proposal is $461,000.00 for the pepper-sync code, and nothing else. I find the library itself has not demonstrated a large value add to the ecosystem. I find the claimed cost (2x senior engineers for 15 months) to be an exaggeration or wasteful. As a voter, I do not think this proposal is a net benefit to the Zcash ecosystem, so I would vote AGAINST funding.
Full review of the proposal: Application for Retroactive Funding for Pepper-Sync (second attempt) - #18 by thowar2
7) Do you approve rescinding the Q4 2025 grant of $2,673,974 to Electric Coin Company (Bootstrap Org), given the organizational changes that have occurred since the original vote?
Approve. The team and the IP listed on the grant longer reside at that organization.
Summary
- Approve
- Reject
- Approve
- Reject
- Approve
- Reject
- Approve