The Forge Report #002: Building the Forge
A month ago, we shared the first Forge Report. At the time, we were still settling into what ZecForge would become.
This month, we focused on building better.
We introduced our Heat Index, Special Commissions, Zcash Education, and a Twitter Growth Challenge. We held five Assemblies, two Anvils and watched members begin putting what they’d learned into practice.
One thing has become increasingly clear. The more creators understand Zcash and financial privacy, the better they become at communicating both. That’s exactly the direction we’re continuing to build in.
Here’s a look at what happened throughout July.
By the Numbers
- 5 Assemblies held
- 2 Anvils (Workshops)
- 3 Zcash Education Sessions
- 40 community members on Telegram
Our social channels:
X: 34 Followers
YouTube: 7 Subscribers
TikTok: 5 Followers
Instagram: 5 Followers
What’s New at the Forge
Heat Index
This month, we introduced the Heat Index, our community leaderboard.
The Heat Index recognises consistent participation across the Forge and the broader Zcash ecosystem. Members earn points for attending Assemblies, participating in ecosystem calls and events, joining Anvils, completing commissions and publishing Zcash-related content.
The goal is to recognise the people who consistently show up.
Special Commissions
We also introduced Special Commissions. These are exclusive commission opportunities available to members at the top of the Heat Index. Our first Special Commission gives top contributors the opportunity to serve as Assembly Notetakers, documenting our weekly Assemblies while earning ZEC for their work.
So far, the 5th through 8th Assemblies have all been successfully recapped through this initiative.
To give everyone the opportunity to participate, the recap for the final Assembly of every month is now opened to the entire community.
Zcash Education
One of the biggest additions this month was Zcash Education. Every weekly Assembly now includes a structured lesson designed to help members better understand financial privacy, the history of money, Zcash, and the ideas behind the technology. Each lesson is followed by a practical task that encourages members to apply what they’ve learned.
We’ve completed three lessons so far, and recordings are now available on our YouTube channel alongside our Anvil recordings. Our Assemblies have become more than a place to catch up with one another and the ecosystem, they’re also becoming a place to learn together.
30-Day Twitter Growth Challenge
Following our Twitter Growth Anvil, we launched a 30-Day Twitter Growth Challenge. The thinking behind it was simple, if our creators are going to help spread the Zcash message, their content has to reach people.
The challenge encourages members to consistently apply what they learned during the workshop while building healthier habits around writing, engagement and account growth.
We’re already beginning to see the difference.
Anvils (Workshops)
Twitter Growth
Facilitator: @elzz-ux
Attendees: 10
This month’s first Anvil focused on growing on X. We reviewed member bios, discussed different content styles, explored practical growth strategies like replies and engagement, and talked about building accounts people genuinely want to follow.
The goal was to help creators build distribution for the work they’re producing.
Canva for Creators
Facilitator: @missfifi0x
Attendees: 8
Our second Anvil introduced members to Canva and covered the fundamentals of creating simple graphics for social media.
As more members begin creating educational content around Zcash, having basic design skills becomes another useful tool they can build on.
Distribution Metrics
Throughout July, members of the Forge published:
- Total Zcash-related posts published: 5
- Total Impressions: 2,283
- Likes: 128
- Comments: 27
- Reposts: 36
- Bookmarks: 5
The numbers are encouraging, but what excites us even more is the improvement in the quality of the work. We’ve now been able to establish a clear relationship between our Anvils, our Zcash Education sessions, and the content our members are putting out.
These are creators who knew little to nothing about Zcash or financial privacy when they joined the Forge in late May. Just two months later, they’re beginning to produce content that is more accurate, more thoughtful, and reaching more people. That has been one of the most encouraging parts of the month.
Building the Forge
This month also marked the beginning of our growing educational library.
Available now:
- Three Zcash Education session recordings
- Twitter Growth Anvil recording
- Canva for Creators Anvil recording
As the curriculum grows, so will this library, giving both current and future members a place to learn at their own pace.
Looking Ahead
Our focus for August is to continue:
- Expanding the Zcash Education curriculum,
- Developing creators through our weekly Assemblies and Anvils,
- Building on the momentum from the Twitter Growth Challenge,
- onboarding more creators into the Forge.
We’re excited to take what we’ve built with our first 40+ members and scale it further. If you’ve been following ZecForge from the sidelines, keep an eye on our social channels, we’ll be opening our doors to new creators soon.
Closing Thoughts
Just over two months ago, many of the creators now contributing thoughtful, accurate content about Zcash had never engaged with the ecosystem before.
Today, they’re publishing better work, growing their audiences, and helping introduce others to financial privacy. That’s exactly why @Zec_Forge exists and it’s the progress we’re committed to scaling in the months ahead.
Until next month, you’re welcome to follow our journey via social media:
Twitter/X: zec_forge
YouTube: zecforge
Tiktok: zecforge
Instagram: zecforge