Below please find the latest ZCG meeting minutes and Public Dashboard link.
Attendance:
- Amber
- Brian
- Gguy
- Jason
- Michael
- Alex (ZF resource)
- Deidra M (notetaker)
Key Takeaways:
- Open Grant Proposals
- Drivepadi Technologies: Airbnb for Car Rentals in Africa - ZCG rejected this grant.
- Zcash on the Go: Empowering Africa with Private Mobile Wallets - ZCG rejected this proposal.
- Brainstorm Session Follow-Ups
- Ecosystem Security Lead - The committee provided an update on this role.
- Zcash Media - ZCG met with the Zcash Media team and is actively working on addressing certain issues.
- Miscellaneous
- AVAX: Message from Kit - The committee approved specific amendments to this grant.
- Plug-and-Play Full Node - Ahas provided Michael and Jason with a prototype for this node.
- Grantee Monthly Update - ZCG asked for clarification on how ZF tracks grantees who are required to provide monthly updates.
Open Grant Proposals
- Drivepadi Technologies: Airbnb for Car Rentals in Africa - Jason outlined this grant. Drivepadi Technologies proposes a peer-to-peer car rental platform for Africa, similar to Airbnb, with a $45,000 funding request. The project, led by Kings Ghedosa, aims to integrate Zcash’s privacy-focused technology to ensure secure and private transactions. Drivepadi’s initiative addresses transportation challenges in Africa, particularly Nigeria, by connecting car owners with renters. The final deliverable will be a user-friendly platform accessible via a website and mobile app, leveraging Zcash for enhanced security. Success will be measured through user engagement, rental transactions, and revenue, among other metrics.
- The committee discussed this in their brainstorm meeting and decided to reject this grant as it is out of scope.
- Zcash on the Go: Empowering Africa with Private Mobile Wallets - Jason summarized this proposal. Kings Ghedosa seeks a $75,000 grant for “Zcash on the Go,” which is aimed at providing secure and accessible mobile wallets in Africa using Zcash’s blockchain technology. The initiative focuses on developing mobile wallet apps for Android and iOS, integrating Zcash’s privacy features, forming partnerships, and running educational campaigns to address banking inefficiencies in the region. The project’s success will be evaluated based on user adoption, transaction volume, and community feedback.
- ZCG discussed this proposal at their brainstorm and voted to reject it. Currently, there is no need to fund new wallet projects.
Brainstorm Session Follow-Ups
- Ecosystem Security Lead
- The committee wanted to provide an update on this subject. They recently rejected the applications for Softstack and Zellic based on a combination of cost and expertise.
- The two organizations they narrowed it down to are:
- Hacken.io - ZCG had a call with them last week to review their proposal again.
- Least Authority - The committee set up a call with them for later this week. This decision will be contingent on Amber being fully divested.
- Amber notified ZCG and ZF via Signal that she is officially divested from Least Authority and no longer has a COI (conflict of interest) as she resigned from the board last fall. ZF confirmed the COI has been rectified.
- A decision from ZCG may be made by the week of March 11.
- Zcash Media
- On February 20th, the committee met with the Zcash Media team to discuss part of their first milestone, which included three of the six long videos and eighteen shorts. The purpose of the meeting was to provide feedback on their content.
- ZCG felt the videos were of high quality; however, they identified a few areas for improvement. Most of their feedback focused on the need for a better balance between general privacy content and topics specifically related to financial privacy and Zcash. They also highlighted the importance of enhancing Zcash branding in the videos and increasing the use of original interview footage from their last project.
- ZCG is working with Zcash Media to address these issues and refine its content strategy.
- After Milestone #1 is completed, the committee plans to meet with them again to discuss their distribution and social media plans.
- On February 20th, the committee met with the Zcash Media team to discuss part of their first milestone, which included three of the six long videos and eighteen shorts. The purpose of the meeting was to provide feedback on their content.
Miscellaneous
- AVAX: Message from Kit
- Kit sent a message to ZCG requesting to revise the ZavaX milestones, proposing to eliminate the code audit deliverable and adjust payment timelines due to extended design phases and funding challenges.
- Additionally, Kit mentioned he is seeking $2M in extra funding by selling 10% of the ZAX token supply. He also mentioned three architectural concerns for ZavaX:
- Threshold signatures
- Decentralization through ZavaX Agents
- Security issues related to Zcash’s proof-of-work
- To tackle these concerns, Kit suggested editing the milestone deliverables to focus on the potential use of FROST for threshold signatures, enhancing security practices, and adding block verification functionality.
- Kit also requested a one-month extension for deliverable dates to manage funding delays.
- Jason asked for the committee members’ vote. Brian said that with FROST coming out, it would be beneficial to reevaluate this grant and its overall results. He voted to approve the listed modifications for the 4 remaining milestones, the month extension, and the removal of the audit milestone. The total grant amount would remain the same, $210,433. Gguy and Michael agreed.
- Jason said he would relay that ZCG approved his request and would also send him a clarification on Kit’s pitchbook, which states “grants from Zcash Foundation,” which is incorrect and might cause confusion. Jason said he would also inform Kit that ZCG will have an Ecosystem Security Lead that may be able to perform the audit. Brian and Amber agreed.
- Plug-and-Play Full Node
- Ahas sent Jason and Michael a prototype of this node. Jason said he occasionally has issues logging into the webpage, but that the node is syncing and he’s in contact with Ahas. Michael also said he was troubleshooting with Ahas. If testing goes well, Ahas will create more and then see who in the community wants to purchase the device.
- Grantee Monthly Updates
- ZCG asked about how ZF handles grantee follow-ups when the reporting frequency is a monthly requirement. Alex said that ZF gives grantees a 5-day grace period after their month is up, and then Deidra M sends a message via Submittable to remind them of the requirement. ZF and ZCG share a ZCG Milestone Update spreadsheet that shows all active grants as well as notes on communication with grantees.