Ride to Earn Zcash

Community Grants Applications
1

Hi Zcash community grant thread!

We are building “proof of ride” technology for bicycling. On-device zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs, built in Rust) verify legitimate cycling distance + human motion patterns. The proof asserts “User rode ≈X miles legitimately” without revealing routes, locations, timestamps, or raw data. Only the compact proof is sent to the app/server — maximum privacy, strong anti-cheat. We aim to pay cyclists in Zcash every mile they validate and build a platform that celebrates the merits that a bicycle ride deserves.

Check out our grant application here:

3 Likes
ZCG Grant Idea Thread
Zcash Community Grants Meeting Minutes 1/5/2026
2

Hi, cool idea, but why should we accept such a large ask ($500k) for you to develop your own product with no Zcash benefit apart from being the monetary reward of choice?

2 Likes
3

We are willing to use our own zcash to fund the project. We do need capital to build out manufacturing and more app dev.

Zcash would get immediate distribution to millions of people if we have 1% market penetration of current strava users.

$40K Bootstrapped up until now. We have been attempting to raising money via the VC route, but we have not found success in pitching web3…the biggest drawdown sector.

If possible would love to raise with with people who believe in privacy tech already.

1 Like
4

This is cool but also can somebody do this but with motorcycles across a whole continent?

Edit: I mean, I would… :backhand_index_pointing_right::backhand_index_pointing_left:

2 Likes
5

I think this would’ve made sense if your grant covered the expenses of Zcash transaction integration and the ZKP/Proof of Ride development. Asking for ZCG to cover the expense of 20,000+ hardware units seems a bit out of scope.

2 Likes
6

How about walking?

Not everyone uses a bicycle, like me, I don’t use one.

1 Like
7

Great question. The bicycle is the most efficient transportation ever made, which is why it is more suited for traveling medium to long distances, also walking does not displace car transportation to the same degree that bicycles do. Also, walk recording is exceedingly rare. Many more people track their rides.

8

Motorcycles are cool. The intention with Intelligrip is to incentive bicycle travel. If we execute on this, we will be able to quantitatively price pollution avoidance from clean transportation on a per mile basis (bicycles and ebikes). This was not initially the goal, but with ZK proofs we will be able to at bare minimum make the pollution avoidance more tangible.

1 Like
9

IMG_1681
IMG_16811920×2560 1.01 MB
Here is our second gen prototype. Received on Christmas Eve.

1 Like
10

Also wanted to say we are laser focused on the bicycle market. That is my background. Also you can cycle 56 miles per 1 burrito.

11

We are only asking for 5000 units initially

12

But what prevents motorcylists from using these to claim all the rewards from your reward pool, leaving nothing for the cyclists?

Also, I’m curious what the zkp achieves. I assume you want to devise a proof that, given some GPS recorded route, attests to the distance traveled? If so, anyone could generate fake GPS data to generate proofs that attest to fake distances traveled. The security of this scheme would actually depend on your bike grip having a provisioned secret key or something, right? If that’s the case, why not just have the bike grip sign a message with that secret key attesting to the distance traveled? No zkp necessary… unless I’m missing something

[edit] I also don’t see what the Zcash community gets in return for the $500k requested. Why not solicit money from investors who would get equity in exchange for their investment? Or crowdfund from customers who would get product in exchange for their investment?

2 Likes
13

Motorcycles produce pollution, are fast and dangerous. We designed with clean transportation bicycling in mind. We are incentivizing bicycle travel. It’s more difficult to ride a bicycle than it is to ride a motorcycle.

You can use google maps to track moto rides. Also bicycles can go places that motos cant. 12B bicycle rides go untracked every year. We are building the platform to help cyclists, take advantage of the data they create.

We are taking on Strava/wahoo/garmin and giving cyclists agency over their bike data privacy, and hindering tech firms from selling your bike data without your consent all the while making cycling a in the process.

Again, if we execute correctly, cyclists all over the world will get rewarded in small amounts of Zcash in real time significantly expanding the amount of people with private money.

14

We have been soliciting investment funds since April. Many VCs don’t fully comprehend web3 and or only invest in software not hardware.

15

Sorry for bringing up motorcycles :see_no_evil_monkey:

1 Like
16

The core challenge in Intelligrip isn’t just attesting to distance—it’s proving a ride was legitimate (real cycling motion, human effort, non-faked data) while preserving absolute privacy. A simple hardware-signed message (e.g., “I traveled X miles” with the grip’s secret key) falls short because it either requires sending verifiable details (compromising privacy) or blindly trusts the claim (opening fraud). ZKPs solve this elegantly by proving complex statements about the data without revealing the data itself.

17

Thank you for submitting your proposal. After careful consideration by the ZCG and a period for community comments on the forum, the committee has decided not to advance this proposal.

We genuinely appreciate the work and dedication you put into your application and hope you’ll continue to participate and contribute to the Zcash community.