Zcash Community Grants Meeting Minutes 4/1/2024

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

Attendance:

  • Amber
  • Brian
  • Gguy
  • Jason
  • Michael
  • Dan (ZF resource)
  • Deidra M (notetaker)

Key Takeaways:

Open Grant Proposals

  • QEDIT: Stablecoins For ZSAs - QEDIT’s 2024 proposal focuses on enhancing Shielded Assets (ZSAs) with stablecoin compatibility, user control, and exchange compatibility. Key initiatives include developing enhanced viewing keys for stablecoin issuers using verifiable encryption, enabling transaction approval by recipients, and analyzing identity for fine-grained disclosure. Their goal is to improve regulatory compliance while maintaining user privacy.
    • The committee had a call with QEDIT last week. ZCG clarified the budget constraints and asked QEDIT about breaking up the proposal into small grants or reducing the team size. QEDIT was receptive to the committee’s feedback and will come back to ZCG with a revised proposal later this week.
    • Jonathan also brought up amending their current “Asset Swap” proposal to replace key deliverables related to that grant with helping to accelerate development on Zebra. He will provide more information later this week.
    • QEDIT also brought up amending their current proposal to include $100,000 in legal fees that can be drawn down and reimbursed by ZCG when they receive an invoice. Dan mentioned in their brainstorm that QEDIT would need to submit a new grant to do so and will reach out to Jonathan to let him know that his grant will be open to edit on Submittable to make the appropriate changes.
  • Zcash Festival Brazil - The Zcash Festival Brazil is planned for March 29, 2024, in FlorianĂłpolis, with a goal to introduce Zcash to the crypto community in Latin America. Organizers are requesting $6,000 to cover the event, featuring workshops, discussions, and interactive activities in multiple languages. The festival is expected to draw 500 physical attendees and reach 50,000 people online. Zcash’s support will be recognized in all event materials, with the intent to boost Zcash’s presence in Latin America.
    • ZCG rejected this sponsorship proposal request as it is outside the scope of what the committee is ready to fund. The committee is also very satisfied with Zcash’s presence in Brazil, with the Zcash Brazil team led by Michae2xl.
  • Tales: Empowering Interactive Narratives - This project is proposed by Samiam3D, who requests $600,000 to transform digital storytelling using AI and blockchain, creating interactive narratives influenced by audience choices. The project will Incorporate Zcash for secure, private transactions, which they say will drive growth and innovation within the Zcash ecosystem. Their technical strategy includes AI tools and infrastructure to support content creation, ownership through tokenization, and active community participation.
    • ZCG rejected this grant proposal because it was out of scope, didn’t seem like a good fit for Zcash, and felt more like a copy-and-paste submission.
  • Zcash Global <> Zcash Brazil - Jason summarized this grant proposal. This is the second Zcash Global <> Zcash Brazil grant proposal this year. The committee asked them to apply on a quarter-by-quarter basis so that they could better manage the treasury. They’re requesting $16,800 for the second quarter to continue to enhance Zcash’s reach and education in Brazil.
    • The Zcash Brazil team has a strong history of community engagement, and this proposal encompasses both their Zcash Brazil initiatives and growing and managing the Zcash Global Discord, which has become an increasingly popular place for the Zcash community.
    • Jason expressed the committee’s appreciation for Zcash Brazil’s efforts and impact on the community. ZCG unanimously voted to approve this grant.
    • Category: Community and Reporting Frequency: Monthly, the same as their previous grant.
  • Chat Mobile App Powered By Zcash - Jason outlined this proposal. Michal Fousek is developing a mobile chat application that uses Zcash for secure message encryption and transfer. He’s requesting $83,200 and says the project will deliver an iOS chat app and SDK alongside an Android SDK, employing the encrypted memo field for message transmission. Michal says he has already built a functional prototype. The app will be openly available for community use and development enhancement.
    • Amber expressed her intention to raise questions to Michal through the forum in hopes of starting more conversation. Jason highlighted the contrast between the Zemo proposal and this one and the current lack of community engagement between the two. Additionally, he said that Dan would be tweeting this proposal, complementing Amber’s efforts to spark more feedback. Jason emphasized that there seemed to be no urgent need for this initiative and suggested that ZCG postpone or reject the grant. Gguy said that if there is low community engagement, it would be hard to justify funding this effort. Brian echoed Gguy’s perspective and added that he would fund research and development-type grants for messaging but stated reservations about its applicability to specific use cases within the Zcash protocol. He said for those reasons and because of the tight budget, he is leaning toward rejecting this grant but is keeping an open mind. Michael agreed with Jason and added that there is limited demand for encrypted messaging applications. He said that people are currently trying to simplify.
    • ZCG will keep this grant open next week for community feedback.
      • Update: On 04/03, ZCG voted via Signal and unanimously rejected this proposal based on lack of community support and the project not being a high priority for the ecosystem.

RFP

  • Lightwalletd Infrastructure - Jason gave background for this proposal. Gguy posted an RFP to the forum stating that ZCG is seeking proposals for the development and maintenance of Zcash lightwalletd infrastructure, with the aim of decentralizing and enhancing the performance and security of lightweight Zcash wallets.
    • The committee has received one proposal from Emersonian so far. Their plan leverages their existing server hardware in Texas and NYC data centers and may also support potential sites in Latin America, Europe, and Asia to ensure a secure, scalable, and resilient service for the Zcash ecosystem. They anticipate a budget of $45,000 for three regions, with an option to expand to Asia for an additional $15,000.
    • ZCG discussed this at their latest brainstorm session and was ready to cast their votes. Gguy supported the $45,000 price point, with a plan for expansion if successful, and advocated for keeping the RFP open for additional bids. Brian also voted in favor of the $45,000 budget and emphasized the importance of lightwallet infrastructure diversity and welcoming new contributors to the Zcash ecosystem. Amber echoed Brian’s sentiments.
    • Jason asked about the price variance compared to other proposals, such as Hanh and Nighthawk. He also asked the committee about the risk of waiting and reaching out to other teams to apply before voting. Brian suggested potential differences in hardware or services as possible explanations for the varied price points. He also expressed concerns about waiting and reaching out to other teams, highlighting the risk of relying on a single provider. Despite these considerations, Jason ultimately voted to approve the grant.
    • Michael dissented and expressed skepticism about the current necessity for global-scale infrastructure and advocated for prioritizing user security. He proposed keeping the RFP open but at a reduced cost compared to the current proposal.
    • The committee voted to approve this proposal for one year of support. Reporting Frequency: Monthly. This grantee will need to post their proposal to Submittable officially. ZCG will keep this RFP open for other bids.

Brainstorm Session Follow-Ups

  • Ecosystem Security Lead - The committee held a welcome call with Least Authority last Friday.
    • The topics discussed were mainly about community engagement:
      • A future meet-and-greet with the help of Dan.
      • Least Authority plans to announce their open hours for developer consultations on the forum.
    • ZCG will put Least Authority in touch with QEDIT for help auditing their ZSA work and possibly supporting their efforts to accelerate Zebra development.
  • ZSAs and Legal Risk - As the previous meeting minutes indicated, JW Verret introduced the committee to Mike Moiser.
    • The update is that Mike Moiser’s firm is representing ECC, so there is a conflict of interest that prevents them from working with ZCG/ZF. As an alternative, he recommended that ZCG speak with someone from Steptoe.
    • ZCG had a call with three attorneys from StepToe last week. During the call, they provided an overview of some concerns raised by JW’s post regarding risks associated with ZSA’s. The attorneys wanted examples and to understand the scope of the committee’s ask. Jason noted that this engagement would require assistance from ZF, and possibly JW himself to help define the scope of the project. Jason also said he asked Steptoe to provide an agreement outlining the general terms of the agreement.
  • Tatyana Zeboot Reimbursement - On Friday, Tatyana contacted the committee after noticing Pacu was reimbursed for Zeboot-related expenses mentioned in the minutes. She inquired about her reimbursement request for $2,020, which was deliberated during the latest brainstorming session.
    • Most members voted in favor of approving Tatyana’s reimbursement. However, Michael expressed a distinction between Tatyana’s request and Pacu’s, noting Pacu’s dedicated resource role. Jason emphasized that had Tatyana asked beforehand, the answer from the committee would likely have been yes. He doesn’t mind this being a retroactive reimbursement based on positive feedback received about her contributions at Zeboot and to ECC.
    • ZCG approved Tatyana’s reimbursement. Amber supported Tatyana’s request and suggested that in the future, individuals should submit reimbursement requests beforehand to avoid a potential influx of retroactive requests. Jason acknowledged Amber and Michael’s feedback and said he would relay their sentiments to Tatyana.
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