Zcash Community Grants Meeting Minutes 1/23/23

Community Grants Community Grants Updates
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Below please find the latest @ZcashGrants meeting minutes and Public Dashboard link.

Attendance:

  • Amber

  • Brian

  • Burns

  • Jason

  • Michael

  • Jack Gavigan (ZF resource)

  • Alex Bornstein (ZF resource)

  • Daniel Wolande (ZF resource)

  • Deidra M acting as notetaker

Key Takeaways:

  • Open Grant Proposals
  • Brainstorm Meeting Follow Ups
    • Global Ambassador Program
      • Zoz, Ambassador from Saudi Arabia, will continue in the GAP thru June 2023.
      • ZCG to write a retrospective of the 1st year of this program to be shared with the community soon.
    • RFPs
      • The committee has decided to pursue RFP ideas and discussed the status of Ledger Zondax.
    • Grant review process
      • Alex will add new wording to the grant platform informing applicants that they can submit a proposal summary to the committee before formally submitting their grant.
    • Meeting with Zcash Media
      • ZCG to meet with Zcash Media this week to discuss their updated grant proposal.
    • Zcon Vozes
      • The conference, Zcon Voices Brazil, will primarily be in Portuguese and will be held in Brazil on March 18, 2023.
    • ZecSec Office Hours
      • Taylor has set up office hours. These hours will be cross-promoted with the Milestone Updates that Dan posts every two weeks.

Notes:

Open Grant Proposals

  • Program To Train 10 Devs in Africa

    • Jason recapped the grant proposal. The applicant is asking for $10,000 for the Africa Youth Blockchain Ambassadors to train ten university students to become Zcash developers. The funds will be used to develop the course, create student resources, and fund the program itself.
    • Jason added that at the last meeting, the committee was leaning towards rejecting this because the Zcash protocol is very sophisticated, and we think they may not have the experience needed to develop resources that will add value back to the Zcash ecosystem. Also, at that time, the applicant had not posted to the grant platform. Although posted now, nothing else was included in the proposal application that changed the committee’s decision.
    • Brian added that he would like to reserve funding for more established organizations with an established and steady flow of students where marketing would be less of an issue.
    • ZCG voted to reject this grant.

  • Hindi EduZcash

    • Jason summarized this submission. The applicant is asking for $25,000 to develop educational materials in Hindi to educate 1,500 new people on blockchain and Zcash. In addition, the applicant wants to create materials for blogs, videos, and infographics in the Hindi language because they think it’ll help get more engagement in India.
    • Jason stated that, overall, the committee felt this was too expensive, and the samples that the applicant submitted did not seem like a good fit.
    • ZCG unanimously rejected this proposal.

  • The BLOKC

    • Jason recapped the grant. This proposal is from the Blockchain Lead Organization and Knowledge Center. They’re a technology and business incubator focused on blockchain and web3 education. They’re asking for $200,000 in grants for hiring a team, developing Zcash-focused programs, community building, and Zcash-focused marketing.
    • Jason stated that the committee felt this grant read like a “copy and paste” effort for this proposal and was not the right fit for ZCG funding. Michael seconded.
    • The committee voted to reject the proposal.

  • Halo2 Community Manager

    • Jason outlined the proposal. This proposal is from Ying Tong, who was previously employed by ECC and is one of the authors and maintainers of the halo2 library. Her grant proposal is for her to serve as the halo2 community manager to contribute reviews, organize processes for external review and maintenance, and provide support to external teams exploring new features. The applicant is asking for $50,400 a year (or 14 hours per week at $75 per hour).
    • Although too early to vote, Jason asked for the committee members’ initial thoughts. Michael stated that Ying Tong is uniquely qualified for this position and will add value to this project. He also said that Halo2 is not super active but still supports this grant.
    • Cody asked if the applicant asked about a direct grant option. Jason stated that she did; however, the committee’s consensus was that this option is a better fit for prior grantees that have gone through the grant process before and proven themselves as a long-term ecosystem player. Cody agreed and stated that the direct grant would be more for the position than the person. He also indicated his support for the grant.
      • Jason added that there are still a number of questions around how the mechanics of a direct grant would work since it requires a network upgrade, and he said that ZCG would need to have a periodic review period in place. He suggested that ZCG explore the mechanics more this year.
      • Cody asked Jack if the Foundation has criteria for direct grants. Jack stated that there are no formal criteria but that, in his opinion, direct as well as major grants should go towards a team that would survive the departure of any one person. Jack also said that, in his opinion, if an applicant is looking to be paid in dollar value, applying for a regular grant is best; however, if they decide to ask for funds from the blockchain, an applicant should be required to explain how they intend to cope with the price volatility. Finally, he concluded that all grants the community decides to fund are based on the trust and continuity of the team behind the grant.
    • Amber appreciated the level of detail in the grant and also supported the grant. Brian echoed the positive feedback and added his concern about long-term sustainability.
    • This grant will remain on the forum for more community feedback, and the committee will vote at the next ZCG meeting.

  • Nighthawk Apps Zcash Development Fund

    • Jason summarized this proposal. This proposal is from Aditya, who previously served on the grants committee. He is requesting $954,400 to fund the NightHawk Team of 7 people for the year. There are four major pieces to the grant:
        1. The NH wallet - the team would like to add support for auto-shielding to the Orchard pool, integrate DAGSync, and improve the end-user experience.
        1. An infrastructure upgrade for lightwalletd to make it faster and more available to end users.
        1. Related to zcashblockexplorer.com, the NH team wants to develop modules for viewing various ZSA asset actions on the block explorer.
        1. There is a retroactive portion of the grant to compensate the NH team for work and maintenance that was covered last year while Aditya was on the committee.
    • Jason stated that before deciding on this grant, there are two tasks the committee needs to follow up on:
      • First, talk to ECC and figure out what’s the status of ECC’s mobile wallet application and if it is still a priority. Getting an answer to this question is important. Michael reached out to Pacu with the question and (as of 01/23) hasn’t heard back yet.
      • Second, set up a call with Aditya to discuss his grant in detail to better understand the team’s goals and objectives and the pricing.
    • Michael stated the wallet seems like the biggest new development, which is respected, but his main concern is that this grant seems that it’s largely dependent on DAGSync, which has no release date set. Jack stated that the Arborist call (on Thursday at 4:30 pm) might be a good opportunity to get clarity for DAGSync. Michael will attend the call and ask for an update publicly.
    • Overall, the committee felt that this grant being an all-in-one grant makes this more difficult/concerning to vote on. Therefore, the other members decided to wait to comment on this grant until after the meetings take place.

  • ZecHub: Open Source Education

    • Jason recapped this grant. At the last meeting, the committee discussed Dismad’s ZecHub proposal. He has withdrawn that proposal and, along with Jason Rogers and Tokitoki, has submitted a new proposal that’s more about ZecHub broadly and not just his role. The proposal seeks to grow Zcash’s open-source education hub and onboard more contributors to Zcash. Their deliverables include an easy-to-understand Zcash wiki, a weekly newsletter, educational materials, wallet tutorials, user guides, and onboarding docs.
    • The total amount they’re requesting is $71,592. That breaks down to a total of $53,000 to the three main contributors, approximately $12,000 to open-source bounties, and the rest to legal and organizational costs.
    • Although too early to vote, Jason asked for feedback from the committee. Brian felt generally optimistic about this grant and liked the vision. Cody said he likes this grant proposal and the grassroots/educational aspect. Amber said she liked the idea of consistent momentum; the educational part could be valuable. Michael noted that he liked to fund a team and the creativity of bounties; however, he saw this as a notion document but could very well warm up to it. He also added his support for Jason Rogers as a person and the work he has done. Jason expressed his support of this grant and was excited to see what Ian and the other contributors do next with funding.
    • Jason suggested holding a mobile vote midweek so the applicants can start work sooner and not have to wait for after next ZCG meeting on Feb 6. The committee agreed.
    • Update: On Wednesday, Jan 25, the ZCG committee voted via Signal and unanimously approved the ZecHub grant proposal.

  • Zcash Education Videos

    • Jason summarized this grant. This grant is from the Blockchain Training Alliance (BTA). They’re asking for $50,000 to create a professionally produced video series of educational and training courses to introduce developers to the Zcash ecosystem. Their training courses cover both technical and non-technical topics. The applicant noted that Zcash will own all rights to share the Zcash educational content that BTA creates. BTA will host the content and provide Zcash with all video files to post and share.
    • Brian stated that he still needed to review. Amber was curious to find out why they decided to go outside their business model but stated that it was not an objection. Cody also needed to review further but did have the question, “why Zcash?”
    • Because the grant was posted recently, it will remain open for more community feedback, and the committee will discuss this further at their next brainstorm meeting.

  • N3THACK - Hackathon and Conference

    • Jason recapped this grant. N3thack is hosting a web3-focused two-day conference/hackathon event in Finland in May. They believe it will attract over 500 people, primarily web3 enthusiasts, and they’re asking ZCG to sponsor it for $15,000. In exchange for a sponsorship, they’d promote ZCG on their website and posters at the event, committee members would get complimentary tickets to the event, and it sounds as if ZCG could participate in a panel discussion if wanted.
    • This proposal was added recently, so it will remain open until all members have reviewed the grant and to give the community more time to provide feedback.

Brainstorm Session Follow Ups

  • Global Ambassador Program
    • The committee followed up with Zoz and he has confirmed he would like to continue as an ambassador. The Saudi Arabian ambassador has activities lined up for January. Alex will extend his contract through June 30, 2023.
    • ZCG will compose a written retrospective of the 1st year of the Global Ambassador program, complete with program highlights and things they’d like to improve in 2023.
  • RFP
    • ZCG compiled a list of RFP ideas and ranked them. Next, the committee will divide the highest-ranked grants and write up the RFPs, which will be posted on the grants platform. Jason stated that there were two high-ranked ideas that the committee wanted to check with ZF to see if this was something ZCG could/should pursue.
    • Jason asked Jack for a status update on the Ledger Zondax and FROST. Jack stated that work is ongoing for the Ledger Zondax but that it ran into some issues. Nonetheless, the work is still ongoing and looking at how to get it deployed into a wallet. As for FROST, Jack stated that this is also a work in progress. A ZIP has been drafted and will need to be reviewed and approved. Jack added that the best way to move forward on publishing an RFP relating to Ledger Zondax is to ensure ZCG and ZF communicate, so it is structured correctly. As for FROST, Jack suggested that ZCG hold off until the ZIP has been finalized.
  • Grant review process
    • Jason stated that at the last meeting, he mentioned adding a short paragraph to the grants website to allow major grant recipients to send ZCG a summary of their proposals before they formally apply.
    • Jason said the committee approved what he wrote up and that he will send it to Alex via Signal for his final edits and to add it to the grants platform.
    • The short paragraph states: “If you have an idea for a major grant that you’re not sure is within the scope of ZCG funding, please email a summary proposal to grants@zfnd.org. A summary proposal will allow the committee to assess whether your project is aligned with ZCG’s interests before you take the time to submit a formal application with a full grant proposal. A summary proposal should not exceed 500 words, and should include a short description of the project, technical approach/methodology, estimated time required for development, and amount of funding requested. Please allow two weeks for a response.”
  • Meeting with Zcash Media
    • The committee will meet with 37 Laines this week regarding their updated proposal that they will submit in late January or early February.
  • Zcon Vozes
    • Jason asked ZF if ZCG members’ attendance would be a help at this conference. Alex stated that no specific in-person support was needed but the committee is welcome to attend as participants. Still, the conference/program will be delivered in Portuguese so engagement will be tough.
  • ZecSec Office Hours
    • Brian stated that Taylor has started to offer hours for projects that contribute to the ecosystem. The community can visit his website or use his Calendly link to sign up. He also added that it would be great to cross-promote these hours on the Milestone Updates that Dan posts fortnightly.

Added Agenda Item

  • Cody asked about the status of A Metamask-style browser extension for Zcash. Cody stated that Taylor will be conducting a security audit soon for some grants and asked if it would be worth the time and effort to audit this grant or if the committee should pull it.
  • Dan stated that the decision was up to the committee. He added that he recently reached out but has yet to get an update on the KYC issue.
  • Jason mentioned that if the committee decided to pull this grant, it would be the first time and it would set a precedent.
  • Jack stated that this grant is significantly behind on every milestone and the grantees have been unresponsive to Dan. He recommended the committee give the grantee one final chance and meet with them if they respond. He stated that if that goes nowhere, he recommends pulling the grant, and reminding the grantee that they can always reapply.
  • Dan suggested two options:
      1. Dan will reach out to Jay again and ask about Fireice. Jason will reach out to Fireice via Telegram as well.
      1. If the committee decides to pull the grant, this would be a great RFP as a backup.
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Curious to understand why ZCG thinks it’s “important “ to know of ECC’s plans on a mobile wallet? Is there a consideration for the decentralization of mobile wallet development?

Nighthawk has pioneered the Zcash wallet experience with a focus on making an easy-to-use, shielded-by-default ZEC implementation, we’ve worked with user feedback, performed group study research, and user experience redesign from the ground up as part of our 2021 grant that will be expanded per our 2023 roadmap shared with the community.

Nighthawk Apps with its globally distributed team and partnerships with MoonPay, Unstoppable Domains, Flexa, etc. make our products a key differentiator from Zcash mobile wallet options available today. Our users love using Nighthawk and expect ongoing development, bug fixes, and updates. Here’s a collection of tweets following our 2021 deliverables and ongoing efforts:

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Hey @aiyadt -

There is certainly a consideration for the decentralization of wallet development. It’s important to know about ECC’s plans, especially around DAG Sync and the SDK because a portion of the success of ZCG’s funding depends on their work. Additionally, we have to consider the available budget and how that relates for multiple wallets. ECC’s tenuous plan for an official, marketed wallet plays a small calculus in our decision, but is still worth considering holistically.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

-Brian

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