Zcash Community Grants Meeting Minutes 2/3/2026

Community Grants Community Grants Updates
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Grant Dashboard

Zcash Community Grants Committee Google Meet Meeting: February 2, 2026

Attendance:

  • Artkor

  • GGuy

  • Hanh

  • Zerodartz

  • Decentralistdan

  • Alex (FPF resource, notetaker)

Key Takeaways:

Open Grant Proposals

  • Zcash Arabia - Q1 2026

    • Zcash Arabia is a community initiative focused on expanding awareness, adoption, and development of Zcash across the Arabic-speaking MENA region by delivering localized education, community engagement, and developer support. The project provides Arabic-language learning resources through an online academy, articles, videos, and interactive content, alongside events, AMAs, and partnerships to grow real-world usage and wallet adoption such as Zashi. In parallel, it supports developer growth through workshops, technical training, documentation, and planned hackathons, addressing the current lack of Arabic resources and low regional participation. By building a sustainable Arabic-speaking Zcash community, the initiative aims to drive long-term, organic growth and strengthen Zcash’s presence in a rapidly expanding crypto market. Applicant is requesting $7,500.

      • Gguy: We are still working on building collaboration with community groups going forward. More to discuss soon.

      • Decentralistdan: I’m getting a call setup.

      • Remains open

  • CipherScan

    • CipherScan is an open-source Zcash block explorer and privacy analysis platform, launched in November 2025, that helps users and developers understand and improve real-world transaction privacy. It uniquely enables fully client-side memo decryption in the browser using WebAssembly-compiled cryptographic libraries, ensuring viewing keys never touch servers, and augments standard explorer functionality with automated detection of common privacy-reducing patterns such as rapid same-amount shielding and deshielding. CipherScan also provides cross-chain visibility into ZEC flows, a robust public REST API, Lightwalletd endpoints, and a custom PostgreSQL-backed indexer to support wallet developers and researchers. With grant support, the project will expand into a Privacy Wallet Scanner with per-transaction privacy scores, real-time wallet-integrated privacy guidance via a Privacy Score API, human-readable transaction explanations, and a weekly Privacy Index to benchmark ecosystem privacy health, while maintaining free, reliable infrastructure for the broader community. Applicant is requesting $58,800.

      • Gguy: I’ve reached out to the applicant so we can discuss further but going forward it sounds like they’re keen to make any requested adjustments to the grant.

      • Remains open.

  • Grassroots Marketing at ETHDenver 2026

    • Building on a successful pilot in Buenos Aires that onboarded 34 new users, this grassroots marketing initiative seeks to expand Zcash awareness and adoption through strategic presence at major 2026 cryptocurrency conferences, starting with ETHBoulder and ETHDenver. The project employs a high-engagement outreach model to bridge the gap between Zcash’s technical utility and public perception by facilitating direct education, fostering partnerships with privacy-focused organizations, and documenting user acquisition through social media. By securing an expedited decision to accommodate the upcoming February event cycle, the team aims to capitalize on concentrated gatherings of developers and advocates, utilizing a proven “high-touch” strategy to convert interest into active wallet usage and long-term ecosystem relationships. Applicant is requesting $9,000.

      • Gguy: We approved this async. We think that this will be a good demonstration of their abilities and outcomes and we’ll keep looking for more opportunities going forward..

      • Approved async (unanimous)

  • Chain.Love

    • Chain.Love is developing a Booking.com–style marketplace for Web3 infrastructure that gives developers and AI agents a single UI and API to discover, compare, and consume services (e.g., RPC/API endpoints, indexers, oracles, compute, and developer tools) across networks, addressing today’s fragmented, manual provider-selection process; the platform aligns incentives by aggregating demand for providers while helping developers evaluate options by price, limits, features, and performance, with planned deliverables including at least twice-monthly database updates, open-source community contributions for the Zcash services directory, monthly/quarterly progress updates, and a 12-month maintenance report. Applicant is requesting $24,000.

      • Artkor: I think the committee is aligned. We’ve constantly seen that ecosystem portals and market place style platforms tend to age poorly, require ongoing maintenance and are hard to justify in terms of long-term impacted usage. For us this is especially problematic because Zcash is a protocol and the infrastructure around it is evolving very quickly. I also noticed the portal does not currently appear to have a sustainable or established user base. That’s why my recommendation will be that if the developers have serious long-term plans for the project and want to catch the current trend we should consider adding a Zcash section and investing effort into maintaining it. Right now many users are actively searching for Zcash related content and riding the wave of organic interest could give the project a much better chance of attracting real users I think. So I reject this one.

      • Gguy: Well said, I agree that there needs to be a proven track record of users before we’re able to fund these types of projects.

      • Hanh: I believe that having a marketplace for services is contrary to the principles of a free open-source crypto project. If a user or developer wants to find information, I think the most organic project should win and be found through traditional web searches or AI tools if they need. The second point is that I think that the idea of having a portal website is obsolete now. So I’ll reject it as well.

      • Zerodartz: I could see this sort of thing being useful in some way in the future, but not right now. Also ZecHub could improve their own Developer focused pages with something similar if they see enough demand for it.

      • Decentralistdan: standalone platform is out of scope for funding at the moment.

      • Declined (unanimous)

  • Zcash Sapling Parameters Availability Hardening

    • This project improves the reliability of shielded transactions across the Zcash ecosystem by eliminating a single point of failure in how some wallets and SDKs obtain Sapling proving parameter files required for private spends. Today, runtime downloads from a single host can fail due to slow, blocked, or corrupted transfers, leaving users unable to complete payments even when the network is otherwise functioning. The team will implement upstream multi-origin, hash-verified fallback logic in librustzcash, add adversarial regression tests to simulate real-world HTTP failures, and provide two additional independently hosted HTTPS mirrors with automated integrity checks. By addressing the issue at the shared dependency layer, all downstream wallets benefit automatically, improving availability and first-spend success rates without introducing new trust assumptions, reducing support burden for wallet teams, and strengthening overall confidence in shielded ZEC payments. Applicant is requesting $30,000.

      • Gguy: I personally have concerns about the need for this work. I think there are already solutions which developers are using and I don’t think it would be beneficial to fund an upstream PR of this nature at this time.

      • Hanh: To me it’s a minor issue because it impacts Sapling and not being able to find parameters can be solved at the application layer in several ways. It could be embedded in the application. It could be sourced from a website. It could be sourced from the application website. That’s a choice that the user takes or the application takes. Having it pushed into the librustzcash is not going to help much even if it happens (even though I highly doubt that it would happen because this is not the philosophy of the library). We don’t hardcode anything in the library. I don’t see much value in doing so. So I reject as well.

      • Artkor: I appreciate that the applicant regularly surfaces and opens issues raised by core developers in repositories but I personally have serious reservations about outsourcing work on such infrastructural questions.

      • Hanh: Well these are issues open on GitHub on the project but I haven’t followed exactly who opened the issue but we should bear in mind that anyone can open an issue on a project. It doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a good issue.

      • Zerodartz: It seems a bit overpriced and not necessary for Zcash right now.

      • Gguy: I think historically we’ve have learned that there has to be caution with funding applicants to work on core infrastructure code that’s going to require detailed reviews and core developers time to review and merge. This is one of those cases where it’s hard to see a net benefit when the proposed solution and work would likely need continued and ongoing feedback for core devs to even stand a chance of being merged.

      • Decentralistdan: reject due to cost and reliance on external Zcash core team

      • Declined (unanimous)

  • Sustainability and the Zbase Vision (Zcash Turkey)

    • Zcash TĂĽrkiye seeks funding to establish ZBase, a dedicated operational structure that will strengthen the team’s capacity, professionalism, and long-term sustainability while keeping Zcash as its primary focus. ZBase will provide a stable foundation for ongoing Zcash-focused workshops, seminars, and community events, supported by limited, project-based collaborations with privacy and Web3 initiatives to generate complementary revenue without diluting priorities. Grant funds will be used to set up a small office, essential equipment, and the operational capacity needed to run regular programs and maintain a consistent local presence. This structure is intended to reduce long-term dependence on grants, improve accountability and efficiency, and demonstrate a model through which community initiatives can evolve into independent, self-sustaining contributors to the Zcash ecosystem. Applicant is requesting $31,000.

      • Gguy: I’ve reviewed this and am ready to vote when everyone is ready, I’m positive about this grant. I think sustainability is something we have to focus on and prioritize which is why I think this is worth trying.

      • Hanh: I’m ok to vote too.

      • Zerodartz: Not quite ready to vote.

      • DecentralistDan: I’d prefer to wait as well.

      • Artkor: I’d like to better understand the team’s plan for moving towards self-sustaining funding and I’d want to discuss it with Batuhan before forming a final view especially in terms of realism and scalability for all the communities.

      • Zerodartz: For me the main thing that makes me hesitate about it is the location, which is not in the main big city. That means it’s harder to get people to visit the place. Open to learn more and I think the team has a good track record to possibly make it a success when the details are discussed further.

      • Decentralistdan: That sort of gets to my point that I mentioned on Friday. My hesitation was, I did read Artkor’s message about the location. I was worried, I’m not sure why they need a set location. And now hearing this, from my perspective, it’s obviously much easier to bring the team to the city and rent a space when they need a space than to get people out to a set space that they have.

      • Remains open

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Thank you for the feedback. I also appreciate the supportive comments. At the same time, I fully understand and respect the concerns that were raised. This feedback provides an important opportunity for us to explain the model more clearly.

I would like to start with the location topic, as I see that this is one of the main concerns.

Positioning ZBase in Yalova is a deliberate decision. Yalova is centrally located between Istanbul, Bursa, and Kocaeli, and is approximately 30–45 minutes away from these three major metropolitan areas via ferry and highway. The combined population of these regions exceeds 20 million people.

We are not designing ZBase as a traditional office. Instead, we are planning it as an open and accessible community hub where people can visit at any time, receive information, and participate in events.

The fixed location is not intended to replace our mobile activities, but rather to support them by creating a sustainable operational center. ZBase will provide a consistent and centralized structure for team coordination, content production, educational preparation, and community gatherings.

Our transition plan toward financial sustainability will work as follows:

Zcash will remain our primary focus. In addition, we will establish limited and project-based collaborations. Revenue generated from these collaborations will gradually cover operational expenses and eliminate grant dependency in the short term.

Our goal is not only to build this model for TĂĽrkiye but also to create a framework that can be replicated by other regional communities if successful. Enabling communities to operate sustainably without relying entirely on grants would represent a significant long-term benefit for the Zcash ecosystem.

It is very valuable for us to see that our past performance builds trust. The same transparency and accountability approach will continue throughout the ZBase process. We commit to regularly sharing progress, metrics, and financial updates.

I am fully open to one-on-one discussions with all ZCG members.

While organizing crypto-focused events in TĂĽrkiye, we have faced several structural challenges. When we attempted to rent event venues in our region, some locations declined due to the crypto-related nature of the events. Similarly, last year, during our participation in the Istanbul Blockchain event, we had arranged a talk at a university, but later the university administration informed us that the event could not take place.

Afterward, we proposed joint events with projects such as MEXC, CoinEx, and NYM. Even though we offered to cover all organizational expenses ourselves, these proposals were not accepted.

Through this initiative, we aim to increase visibility, strengthen our brand presence, and create an environment where institutions and organizations feel more comfortable collaborating with us.

These experiences made the strategic importance of having a fixed and independent community space much clearer. ZBase is designed specifically to address this need.

Additionally, the region where we are located includes universities and has a strong young population. This creates a significant advantage for community growth and educational activities. The planned center will be open every day and serve as a public meeting and engagement space.

Our strategic objective is to completely eliminate reliance on ZCG funding within 6–9 months through the ZBase model. The Zcash Türkiye team aims to build a financial structure that will allow us to continue operating for at least two years without requesting additional funding starting from the last quarter of 2026. If successful, this model would represent a positive and scalable outcome for the Zcash ecosystem.

The commitment included in our proposal (Digital Agreement) is a high-risk initiative. However, we have strong confidence in our execution and roadmap. We believe this initiative can serve as a model for future Zcash funding strategies.

Thank you again for your time and consideration. I strongly believe we can develop this model successfully together.

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Hey everyone, Sergei from Chain.Love here.

Rather than debating the approach upfront, we’ve decided to demonstrate our long-term intent by building and maintaining a Zcash infrastructure discovery toolbox for free. It will be backed by open-source data, public analytics to track real usage (addressing traction concerns), and an open contribution flow for the community and Zcash ecosystem participants (addressing maintenance concerns).

We’ll let builders decide whether this adds value compared to existing docs (ZecHub) and current search flows. If the community finds it useful, we’d appreciate any support from the Zcash ecosystem in helping highlight it to developers.

We’ll share a follow-up forum post once the toolbox is live and ready for feedback.

Thanks again for the thoughtful input

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