# Why I'm Against ZSAs **URL:** \ **Category:** General\ **Created:** [January 18, 2026, 11:20pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/why-im-against-zsas/54351 "2026-01-18T23:20:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![maxdesalle](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/maxdesalle/32/42572_2.png) [@maxdesalle](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/maxdesalle)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 11:20pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/why-im-against-zsas/54351/1 "2026-01-18T23:20:54Z")
Why I’m against ZSAs: 1. Aleo, Penumbra and others already have shielded assets with little success. 2. For any actual ZSA use case, a smart contract chain will always be a better fit. 3. Expands Zcash’s attack surface and complicates the codebase for years to come. 4. Dilutes ZEC’s value proposition. 5. Success scenario is actually dangerous: stablecoin issuers gain kingmaker power over forks by choosing which chain holds “their” asset in case of a hard fork. 6. Stablecoin issuers require blacklisting, freezing, and surveillance features—the opposite of what Zcash stands for. 7. Opportunity cost: every hour on ZSAs is an hour not spent on core privacy, UX, and adoption. The best case for ZSAs is weak. The worst case compromises what makes Zcash worth building. ---
**Author:** ![dontbeevil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@dontbeevil](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/dontbeevil)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 12:30am UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/why-im-against-zsas/54351/2 "2026-01-19T00:30:08Z")
I agree. I wouldn’t want ZSA issuers controlling the network fork. It’s also weird to have centralized companies freezing coins. I think ZSAs are best fit for ZTarknet / Zcash L2. ---
**Author:** ![maxdesalle](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/maxdesalle/32/42572_2.png) [@maxdesalle](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/maxdesalle)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 1:19am UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/why-im-against-zsas/54351/3 "2026-01-19T01:19:55Z")
100%. Fully agree. ---
**Author:** ![Chewbacca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Chewbacca](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/Chewbacca)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 6:38am UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/why-im-against-zsas/54351/4 "2026-01-19T06:38:33Z")
Against ZSAs and against Crosslink. These ideas were born in a time when people were afraid Zcash would sink into irrelevancy and its price performance was poor. The Encrypted Bitcoin, Unstoppable Private Money is the course. The sooner we can close the book on making Zcash into a programmable layer 1 that would be very poorly received by the market, the better. Zcash is a private store of value. The market has spoken. Let’s not shoot ourselves in the foot. ---
**Author:** ![outgoing.doze](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/outgoing.doze/32/37355_2.png) [@outgoing.doze](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/outgoing.doze)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 7:22am UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/why-im-against-zsas/54351/5 "2026-01-19T07:22:19Z")
I’ve gone back and forth on this one, but there **may be** some exciting potential on the horizon: [Zcash NU7 into a JAM service - #4 by outgoing.doze](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/zcash-nu7-into-a-jam-service/54239/4) - it’s possibly nothing but sounds like it’s worth exploring. ---
**Author:** ![gigantes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4bbf92/32.png) [@gigantes](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/gigantes)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 11:59am UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/why-im-against-zsas/54351/6 "2026-01-19T11:59:23Z")
> [@maxdesalle](#): > > Why I’m against ZSAs: > > 1. Aleo, Penumbra and others already have shielded assets with little success. > 2. For any actual ZSA use case, a smart contract chain will always be a better fit. > 3. Expands Zcash’s attack surface and complicates the codebase for years to come. > 4. Dilutes ZEC’s value proposition. > 5. Success scenario is actually dangerous: stablecoin issuers gain kingmaker power over forks by choosing which chain holds “their” asset in case of a hard fork. > 6. Stablecoin issuers require blacklisting, freezing, and surveillance features—the opposite of what Zcash stands for. > 7. Opportunity cost: every hour on ZSAs is an hour not spent on core privacy, UX, and adoption. > > The best case for ZSAs is weak. The worst case compromises what makes Zcash worth building. I concur with all the above. I would also add that scammy ICO’s on Zcash would attract regulatory attention. ---
**Author:** ![Roadies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Roadies](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/Roadies)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 2:01pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/why-im-against-zsas/54351/7 "2026-01-19T14:01:37Z")
Agree. ZEC should be a private store-of-value, competing directly with public store-of-value (i.e., BTC). Don’t bother any other benefits. ---
**Author:** ![emersonian](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/emersonian/32/42565_2.png) [@emersonian](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/emersonian)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 4:30pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/why-im-against-zsas/54351/8 "2026-01-19T16:30:13Z")
ZSAs are already built, the community already paid for it. Don’t throw away code, look at Ethereum and other projects: stablecoins are the most proven product market fit for crypto. If ZSAs are not merged, people will offer tokens regardless, but with a less technically-sound approach: ordinals (BRC-20) or memos. We voted on ZSAs years ago and it passed. You can disagree, but it’s a decentralized project. Tokens will launch on Zcash whether you want them to or not. The question is whether we use the audited, professionally-built token implementation, or watch as chaos happens. The market always finds a way, and the market has voted for tokens to exist on L1s time and time again. ZSAs are paid for, not merging them is a very negative signal to other teams’ donors & investors. Why fund and build Tachyon and Crosslink if the Zcash community can’t even merge ZSAs? This debate is tired, it’s either tokens as ZSAs or tokens as a hack. Tokens are happening regardless of anyone’s opinions, they are inevitable. ---
**Author:** ![dismad](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/dismad/32/18432_2.png) [@dismad](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/dismad)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 4:44pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/why-im-against-zsas/54351/9 "2026-01-19T16:44:48Z")
Curious to ask folks who are against ZSA’s where they have been with their opinions before they become the number one cost of ZCG: ![Screenshot_2026-01-19_08-38-49](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/original/3X/2/d/2d31de2aafec04e35b8c8daf8a2c1e8e49f5d4d6.png) > **[Payments - Zcash Community Grants Dashboard](https://zerodartz.github.io/zcg-dashboard/#payments)** > > USD Data I think its important to ask because QEDIT has been doing hard work and its rather interesting these convos are coming up _now_, in the midst of the ECC / Bootstrap drama. I also think its important to ask the community ## wen zcashd deprecation ⬅ Look forward to the discussion 🥰 ---
**Author:** ![maxdesalle](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/maxdesalle/32/42572_2.png) [@maxdesalle](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/maxdesalle)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 4:52pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/why-im-against-zsas/54351/10 "2026-01-19T16:52:40Z")
> [@emersonian](#): > > ZSAs are already built, the community already paid for it. Don’t throw away code This is a textbook example of sunken cost fallacy. > [@emersonian](#): > > If ZSAs are not merged, people will offer tokens regardless, but with a less technically-sound approach: ordinals (BRC-20) or memos. No serious stablecoin issuer, for example, is going to release a stablecoin in that form. > [@emersonian](#): > > We voted on ZSAs years ago and it passed. [There is no voting in Zcash](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/nu7-sentiment-polling-and-zip-submission-window/53766/18). It’s rough consensus. There is voting to fund initiatives, but **not** for what actually gets into the codebase. Also, things change. Just because it was maybe a good idea two years ago when Zcash had little traction doesn’t mean it’s still a good idea today. > [@emersonian](#): > > The market always finds a way, and the market has voted for tokens to exist on L1s time and time again. In my original post, I prove exactly the contrary: Aleo and Penumbra, both privacy chains, have had native assets for a while with little traction. > [@emersonian](#): > > ZSAs are paid for, not merging them is a very negative signal to other teams’ donors & investors. It doesn’t. It’s very normal for startups etc. to try something, realize it’s a bad decision, and walk it back afterwards. It’s fine. ---
**Author:** ![maxdesalle](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/maxdesalle/32/42572_2.png) [@maxdesalle](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/maxdesalle)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 5:05pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/why-im-against-zsas/54351/11 "2026-01-19T17:05:12Z")
Good to see you here @dismad. > [@dismad](#): > > Curious to ask folks who are against ZSA’s where they have been with their opinions before they become the number one cost of ZCG Answer is simple: I wasn’t involved in Zcash at the time. We should avoid falling for what is a textbook example of sunken cost fallacy. This was two years ago (the market changed since then and proved through Alea and Penumbra there is basically no demand for this) when Zcash had little traction. Zcash is now having a _ton_ of traction in the store of value / encrypted Bitcoin / sovereign money niche. That’s what we need to capitalize on. That’s our product-market fit. Everything else is effectively a distraction and hurts our ability to capitalize on this market fit. > [@dismad](#): > > I think its important to ask because QEDIT has been doing hard work With all due respect for QED-IT, and having met Jonathan, their CEO, in person and having had the chance to have a great exchange with him (he is awesome), this is again an example of sunken cost fallacy. What matters is the present, and whether this is a good decision _now_, not how much work went into it in the past. > [@dismad](#): > > its rather interesting these convos are coming up _now_, in the midst of the ECC / Bootstrap drama. No need to turn conspiratorial, the reason is simply that [a poll about ZSAs](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/nu7-sentiment-polling-and-zip-submission-window) will go live next week. ---
**Author:** ![dismad](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/dismad/32/18432_2.png) [@dismad](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/dismad)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 5:26pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/why-im-against-zsas/54351/12 "2026-01-19T17:26:43Z")
> [@maxdesalle](#): > > proved through Alea and Penumbra there is basically no demand for this Curious what your evidence of this claim is? > [@maxdesalle](#): > > Zcash is now having a _ton_ of traction in the store of value / encrypted Bitcoin / sovereign money niche. That’s what we need to capitalize on. That’s our product-market fit. Everything else is effectively a distraction and hurts our ability to capitalize on this market fit. This seems to imply a zero sum game which I disagree with. > [@maxdesalle](#): > > No need to turn conspiratorial The repeated delays to zcashd dep makes me question a lot tbh. I hope to be proven wrong. ---
**Author:** ![tloriato](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/tloriato/32/33218_2.png) [@tloriato](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/tloriato)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 5:36pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/why-im-against-zsas/54351/13 "2026-01-19T17:36:06Z")
Can you expand on (3) and (4)? Those are really the only points you should be arguing. (1), (7) and (6) are non-arguments IMO. For (1), there might be a thousand reasons. (7) is not true because otherwise the lockbox would be empty, we are not budget constrained (right now), and (6) is a very simplistic view of the world. If Zcash stands for freedom, then people should be free to enter into any agreement that they understand and accept. ---
**Author:** ![gigantes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4bbf92/32.png) [@gigantes](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/gigantes)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 5:39pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/why-im-against-zsas/54351/14 "2026-01-19T17:39:55Z")
> [@maxdesalle](#): > > Also, things change. Just because it was maybe a good idea two years ago when Zcash had little traction doesn’t mean it’s still a good idea today. Exactly. Things evolve. > [@dismad](#): > > Curious to ask folks who are against ZSA’s where they have been with their opinions before they become the number one cost of ZCG: I wasn’t around either, but I find it odd that one project is swallowing so much funds with no very clear use cases proposed. ---
**Author:** ![maxdesalle](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/maxdesalle/32/42572_2.png) [@maxdesalle](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/maxdesalle)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 5:59pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/why-im-against-zsas/54351/15 "2026-01-19T17:59:46Z")
> [@dismad](#): > > Curious what your evidence of this claim is? [Here](https://defillama.com/stablecoins/Penumbra) is an example for Penumbra regarding stablecoins, which given how dominant stablecoins are on other chains, gives you an idea of the lack of traction of shielded assets. > [@dismad](#): > > This seems to imply a zero sum game which I disagree with. Yeah it is. Branding is about focus. If you say Zcash is one thing, but then many other things at the same time, that confuses people. Trying to do many things at once also expands Zcash’s attack surface and complicates the codebase for years to come. ---
**Author:** ![dismad](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/dismad/32/18432_2.png) [@dismad](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/dismad)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 6:08pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/why-im-against-zsas/54351/16 "2026-01-19T18:08:24Z")
> [@maxdesalle](#): > > [Here](https://defillama.com/stablecoins/Penumbra) is an example for Penumbra regarding stablecoins, which given how dominant stablecoins are on other chains, gives you an idea of the lack of traction of shielded assets. Is this related to noble leaving the cosmso eco? For ref here is namada which shows something different: ![Screenshot_2026-01-19_10-06-53](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/original/3X/f/3/f35c47f1c48f7e639bcce4061ce12ebc24764dfb.png) > **[Zechub Namada Dashboard](https://namada.zechub.wiki/)** I think the private stablecoin space is SUPER competitive and this may explain these differences. ---
**Author:** ![maxdesalle](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/maxdesalle/32/42572_2.png) [@maxdesalle](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/maxdesalle)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 6:09pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/why-im-against-zsas/54351/17 "2026-01-19T18:09:30Z")
> [@tloriato](#): > > Can you expand on (3) and (4)? Those are really the only points you should be arguing. **(3):** It’s pretty straightforward, it leads to more code, complicates everything, etc. there is a reason why it took two years for the QED-IT team to build this, it’s hard. **(4):** Having shielded assets takes away the spotlight from ZEC specifically. Both in terms of branding, because now you can’t say Zcash is encrypted Bitcoin anymore etc. but also in terms of functionality: people might opt to hold a shielded asset instead of ZEC. > [@tloriato](#): > > (1), (7) and (6) are non-arguments IMO. For (1), there might be a thousand reasons. (7) is not true because otherwise the lockbox would be empty, we are not budget constrained (right now), and (6) is a very simplistic view of the world. If Zcash stands for freedom, then people should be free to enter into any agreement that they understand and accept. **(1):** It’s still a pretty significant piece of evidence. The Penumbra and Aleo people aren’t incompetent, and it’s unclear to me there is a strategy for ZSAs to _not_ end up in the situation Penumbra and Aleo got into. **(6):** Zcash is about privacy. Stablecoin issuers require surveillance features, which is against privacy. It’s pretty straightforward. **(7):** I’m talking about developer resources. There is only one @daira, only one @str4d, etc. Money isn’t everything. ---
**Author:** ![maxdesalle](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/maxdesalle/32/42572_2.png) [@maxdesalle](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/maxdesalle)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 6:13pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/why-im-against-zsas/54351/18 "2026-01-19T18:13:27Z")
> [@dismad](#): > > For ref here is namada which shows something different: I’m sorry but $1.2M in TVL isn’t what I would consider actual traction. For such a low amount, this could even just be the Namada team’s own treasury. [Ethereum has $164B in stablecoin TVL](https://defillama.com/chain/ethereum) in comparison. ---
**Author:** ![outgoing.doze](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/outgoing.doze/32/37355_2.png) [@outgoing.doze](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/outgoing.doze)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 6:46pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/why-im-against-zsas/54351/20 "2026-01-19T18:46:57Z")
Just to make sure, everybody here understands that the ZSAs tokens do not benefit from the privacy pool of ZEC tokens? That is, every ZSAs has to start their privacy from 0. I’m not actually sure what the threshold is for reasonably privacy but I don’t think it’s clear for many that it starts at 0. My comment above (JAM) would potentially address this with trustless bridging. ---
**Author:** ![Milton](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/milton/32/21375_2.png) [@Milton](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/Milton)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 7:00pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/why-im-against-zsas/54351/21 "2026-01-19T19:00:00Z")
> Just to make sure, everybody here understands that the ZSAs tokens do not benefit from the privacy pool of ZEC tokens? That is, every ZSAs has to start their privacy from 0. I don’t think this is correct. I have asked about this before and was told that all the different tokens (including ZEC) will share the same privacy set. ZSAs is a way to mitigate the reduction of the privacy set that will result from proof of stake attracting ZEC out of the shielded pool. [Next page](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/why-im-against-zsas/54351.md?page=2)