Zcash Community Grants Meeting Minutes 5/29/23

Community Grants Community Grants Updates
1

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

Attendance:

  • Amber
  • Brian
  • Burns
  • Jason
  • Michael
  • Alex (ZF resource & temporary notetaker)
  • Daniel (ZF resource)

Key Takeaways:

  • Open Grant Proposals

  • Brainstorm Session Follow-Ups

    • Global Ambassador Program - ZCG to work with Yoditar to review ambassadors with upcoming IC agreement end dates.
    • RFPs - ZCG to meet with CoinFabrik to discuss their RFP response.
    • Membrane Finance - ZCG to meet with Membrane and Qedit.
    • Web3Privacy Prague 2023 - ZCG to sponsor.
    • Zcash Grants
      • Grants vs. RFPs - Additional clarification will be provided on the difference between grants and RFPs.
      • ZCG vs. Minor Grants - Additional clarification will be provided on the difference between these programs.
    • Zcon4
      • Next steps - ZF to respond to requestors, including ZCG, shortly.
      • ZCG Workshop - TBD

  • Other

    • Hanh has requested a payout for milestone 1 - “YWallet + taddr/zaddr in Ledger”. ZF is referring this request to the Committee because the embedded app has not been accepted by Ledger. - ZCG voted to approve the milestone 1 payment.

Open Grant Proposals

  • Bird Calls - Formally posted second phase of project, the integration phase. They are asking for $245,600. They think it will take a significant amount of work to integrate BTCpay into Birdcalls. ZCG discussed and they recently approved the Qedit grant and now only have a little over $2m in treasury. ZCG will start using a “hold category”. A “hold” is not a rejection, but not an approval. The majority of committee members believe this is a “hold” for now. Brian is very interested in the project but concerned about the budget at this time. Burns, Jason, and Amber agreed. Michael would vote to reject but he is ok with putting it on hold. Status: On Hold

Hold is subjective at this time, no set criteria. Revisit as new committee members come on board and at each ZCG meeting.

  • Zcash UniFFI Library Addenda - Updated their proposal, reducing the request to $96,000 for the second phase of the project. Moving UniFFl closer to the original library and demonstrating usage. ZCG recently had a call with the Eiger team. Before approving the grant ZCG wants to see it demonstrated that the previous work they’ve done for the UniFFI Library is usable. Doesn’t appear to have the usability that was anticipated, and it needs better documentation. Rejected, Dan will tell them to reapply after providing documentation and useability. Status: Rejected

  • Giveth and Zcash - $35,000 to develop project + 500 ZEC for incentives. ZCG doesn’t feel like this is the best timing or the best use of funds. Michael said Gitcoin is the bigger fish in town and it integrated ZEC with much fanfare and little results. Amber agreed and Burns said ZCG and ZF Minor Grants covered community funding needs. Brian suggested they consider applying for a minor grant. Status: Rejected.

  • Analysis of Private and Public Zcash Transactions - $8,000 for a study. Jason said it’s unclear that they can get the data required to complete the study. Brian reiterated the data concern. Burns referenced a former study that covered the same ground. Status: Too soon to vote.

  • Update: On May 30, ZCG conducted a mobile vote via Signal and unanimously voted to reject this grant.

  • The Empowering Privacy Advocacy - $195,000 request. Michael said the proposal looks weak. Amber said it’s lacking detail. Brian said success is hard to gauge based on the details provided. Brian appreciates its Zcash and we value privacy but their identity is important given the public context of the grant request. It’s also expensive given other ZCG expenses. Burns is interested to see where comments lead but it seems expensive. Jason said they could start with a minor grant to write a whitepaper, but it’s not clear they have experience in business development or marketing, though it does seem well intentioned. Brian agreed with Jason’s comments. Brian stated that minor grants could be a great gateway for new community members to grow an idea into a major grant as would ZecHub. Status: Too soon to vote.

  • Update: On June 2, ZCG unanimously voted to reject this grant in their weekly Brainstorm Session.

  • The Crypto Lounge Experience - Sponsorship request, $17,000. Brian said the premise is interesting, good track record for the requesters, could be a discretionary expense? Brian is in favor of funding. Jason’s first thought was that it’s expensive and ZCG shouldn’t be the sole monetary sponsor. Jason agreed that the discretionary budget is an option but he’d like to see ZCG play a bigger role in the event. Amber was torn, would love to be involved, but is it a good use of funds to further Zcash? Possibly not. Burns said it’s a great bang for the buck given the likely event attendees. Amber agreed with that point and it’s within ZCG’s purview. Michael needs more time to determine the value to ZCG. Jason asked what would be a win for ZCG? Attendees eventually submitting grant applications? Is a ZCG or ambassador presentation a possibility? Burns suggested that a show and tell from grantees at this event would be valuable. Committee agreed. Jason said in a way that’s what Zcon is for. Status: To be discussed further at the next brainstorming session.

Brainstorm Session Follow-Ups

  • Global Ambassador Program - Tim’s trial is complete. Active with french translation and positive feedback from Yoditar. Yoditar to provide feedback on ambassadors coming up for renewal at the end of June and ZCG will then determine next steps.
  • RFPs - Eiger submitted a response to the Zcash Memo Field Secure Messaging RFP. ZCG had a call and they feel like the proposal is too expensive. CoinFabrik submitted a proposal for the same RFP for $60,000, ZCG to have a call to discuss. Will ask them to post the proposal to the forum.
  • Membrane Finance - Posted on the forum about ZSA enabled stablecoin. ZCG to set up a call with Membrane and Qedit shortly.
  • Web3Privacy Prague 2023 - June 5th put on in part by Mykola Siusko (former grantee). ZCG to sponsor, 500 Euros, to come out of ZCG discretionary budget.
  • Zcash Grants
    • Grants vs. RFPs - Amber drafted some language to provide better clarity regarding grants vs. RFPs. Amber to send to Alex for posting on the grants platform.
    • ZCG vs. Minor Grants - Confusion about ZCG vs. ZF grant prograrms. How can we make the difference more explicit? Alex/ZF to review current language and presentation to see how additional clarity can be achieved.
  • Zcon4
    • Next steps - ZF to respond to potential speakers shortly.
    • ZCG Workshop - ZCG submitted a request for a panel, similar to Zcon3. Jason recommended the committee host a workshop or similar event with existing grantees at Zcon4 to hear their feedback about the program. ZF prioritized scholarships for grantees and Alex said ZF could make a room available if scheduling was determined in advance. Committee was supportive.
  • Other
    • Hanh has requested a payout for milestone 1 - “YWallet + taddr/zaddr in Ledger”. ZF is referring this request to the Committee because the embedded app has not been accepted by Ledger. Approved by ZCG. Jason said if work is completed but the grantee is waiting on pull request or someone else to complete a deliverable then the milestone should be paid out. Brian feels a little uneasy about the state of the integration (sideloading isn’t the best UX) but he approves the milestone being paid out. Michael agreed it should be paid since the work is done. Amber said he fulfilled his obligation. Burns said even in its current state it is as good as we’ve got. Who is ultimately responsible for next steps? Burns asked if both milestone 1 and 3 should be paid (only milestone 1 has been requested)? Milestone 2 to remain open pending Ledger’s approval of the app. Committee to discuss milestone approvals as Hanh requests them.
12 Likes