Zcash Community Grants (ZCG) Meeting Minutes 3/31/25

Community Grants Community Grants Updates
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Grants Dashboard

Zcash Community Grants Committee Google Meet Meeting: March 31, 2025

[Minutes taken by FPF]

Attendance:

  • Artkor
  • Brian
  • GGuy
  • Jason
  • Zerodartz
  • Alex (FPF resource, notetaker)

Key Takeaways:

Open Grant Proposals

  • Zenith Full Node Wallet 2025
    • Vergara Technologies, run by Pitmutt, is proposing to enhance the Zenith Full Node Wallet by adding support for Frost Multi-sig wallets and integrating the Keystone hardware wallet for private storage. The Grant is going to fund the development of functionality to create Multi-sig wallets using distributed key generation and enable the signing of and initiation of multi-sig transactions. Total request is $91,700 covering development costs, hardware purchases and a donation to the Open Privacy Research Society. As we previously discussed, before we vote on this, we want to get a sense of how many users the wallet has. This will be brought up on this week’s Arborist Call. This info will help the committee determine if there is demand and if this proposal is worth the cost in a resource constrained environment. ZCG members were asked to provide their input.
    • Jason: We discussed this grant at length. We tried to get feedback in the Arborist Call but a lot of devs were out in Sofia, the only ones that were on the call didn’t really have much to add. We asked Daira Emma and Pili for feedback. Pili came back and said, ZF appreciates any sort of integration of FROST and she didn’t know anybody who was using Zenith. This subject will be brought up on the Arborist Call again this week. The issue that we’re running into is that this is an expensive grant and we have limited funding. The question is: while this is a cool tool for Zebra users, it has very low usage and is it worthwhile to fund this now or are there other higher priorities we should be anticipating?
    • Gguy: There is always value in having multiple implementations using things like FROST but can we justify the cost? More feedback is needed.
    • Artkor: I think this is a very important proposal but even though it has real potential right now, it feels more theoretical that’s because the wallet doesn’t have as many users as we’d like. Feedback on the FROST and Keystone implementations, in a graphical interface would definitely be available for this, but we need to make sure we have enough resources to actually bring it into production. Right now, while we’re still finishing all the work related to NU7, we just don’t have that confidence. So, I’m leaning to reject it and I hope we will revisit it in the near future.
    • Zerodartz: I’m leaning towards rejecting it right now because not many users are using it probably, but I still want to hear more feedback.
    • Remains open for community feedback.
  • Eliza OS Zcash Plugin
    • ElizaOS is an open-source operating system designed for AI agents that facilitates the development and deployment of autonomous agents. We aim to integrate Zcash’s privacy-preserving technology into this ecosystem through a plugin with three primary components: Wallet Management, Transaction Capabilities, and Real-time Blockchain Data. The plugin will adhere to ElizaOS’s modular architecture, where Actions function as commands available to agents and Providers serve as data feeds to the agent’s operational context. All components will be released as open-source software to encourage community contribution and educational engagement. $20,000 is being requested. ZCG members were asked to provide their input and vote.
    • Jason: I think consensus on this one is that we are going to reject it. We think it’s cool technology and we’re curious to see how those applications and use cases evolve in the future and maybe at some point they can reapply but now it’s not the right time. It’s out of scope for our priorities.
    • Artkor: I bookmarked the proposal because I think it’s interesting overall but based on the forum feedback, it looked like the current Zcash protocol still needs a few features before this kind of integration is possible. Once those features are in place, and if we start to see some real demand from the community for AI agents, we can definitely come back to the applicant and to revisit the idea but for now I reject it.
    • Jason: Well said, agreed.
    • Zerodartz: I’m really liking the AI agent stuff that’s happening in the space but right now, for this one, I don’t think we need it right now. Also we just had Near Intents Hackathon so it will be nice to see what comes out of that. So right now I vote to reject.
    • Unanimous rejection.
  • Zingo: Zcash Summit Grant
    • Summary: Zingo Labs is requesting $4,677 to fund travel and attendance to the Zcash Dev Summit and Real World Crypto conferences in Sofia (which have already happened) for three developers. The goal is to collaborate with the rest of the ecosystem, develop new ideas for Zcash and strengthen community ties by meeting in person. The funding covers flights, registration fees, accommodation and travel expenses for the participants. We want to approve it with a couple things to note. First is that these types of requests come to us in advance of the event. Not like the week that it’s happening or after it’s happened and we can do a better job on our part to communicate that to potential attendees. Second is that we’re sort of on the fence about this, but there may come a time where we only cover partial travel expenditures, we don’t cover a hundred percent, but in this case, we’re comfortable with funding this. I’ve heard positive feedback from people about this team’s contributions to that event. So yeah, happy to fund it. Anything else?
    • Artkor: There is no doubt of the goals of this trip. Very important for moving development forwards. Since Zingo didn’t have a budget for it, I support covering these expenses. And I also agree that we should have a clear open policy for devs to request this kind of reimbursement in advance. I will try to draft a proposal for a co-funding model with rules and share it with the Committee for Review.
    • Jason: That’s super helpful, thank you.
    • Zerodartz: I approve this.
    • Unanimously approved.
  • AI Knowledge Base System for Zcash
    • They propose to develop an AI Knowledge-Base System for the Zcash Network to enhance support and knowledge management within the ecosystem. This system will integrate with communication channels like Discord and Telegram, providing instant, accurate responses to inquiries about Zcash’s privacy features, wallet usage, mining, and development. Leveraging artificial intelligence, it will automatically scrape and update its knowledge base from Zcash’s official resources—such as documentation, developer guides, and community resources, FAQs—ensuring users, developers, and community members have 24/7 access to reliable, up-to-date information. They are requesting $25,000.
    • Jason: This is the first time we’re talking about this grant. We have received a few different grants this year for people who want to create these AI driven bots. What are everyone’s thoughts?
    • Gguy: Easy to review, these types of grants are demand driven. So if there is demand for these tools then we might consider something like this but given the current feedback there doesn’t seem to be any interest so this is a reject for me.
    • Wobzz: It’s out of scope given our priorities. I reject.
    • Artkor: We’ve reviewed similar proposals not long ago and we rejected them. Nothing has really changed in terms of needs or priorities so I reject.
    • Zerodartz: We have a Discord that does something similar. I reject this one.
    • Jason: I reject it too.
    • Unanimous rejection.
  • Complete Zaino!
    • Zingo Labs is requesting $151,240 to upgrade and extend Zcash infrastructure through the Zaino project. Focusing on decentralizing critical components by implementing core functionality and APIs in Rust. The project aims to replace an outdated c++ component with modern Rust technology, improving development speed and efficiency while collaborating with ECC, ZF, Blockchain Commons and others. The grant is going to cover hardware, software services, and compensation for developers who are working full-time over a three month period. The milestones include the implementation of new RPCs, updating the Zcash RPC specification, and integrating a back end to support light wallets. So, I guess one question that came up when we talked about this on Friday, is that we want to understand how the original Zaino grant didn’t encompass this work. We need to determine if this is an issue with delays or if it’s unexpected work that came up, or if this is a different part of the project. Wobzz has reached out to Zancas with these questions.
    • Jason: We’re going to wait to see what Zancas’ response is to Brian’s message and we’re going to bring this up for discussion at the Arborist Call this week. There’s talk about further delays for Zcashd deprecation and Nu7 and we now have three teams that are doing ongoing work related to this: Zingo, Blockchain Commons, and Qedit. We don’t want to be in a position where we have these ongoing funding obligations that are open-ended. Thoughts?
    • Artkor: I agree. I appreciate the work done so far and the value Zingo brings to the ecosystem, but before we move forward this, these requests we need some clarity. Why weren’t these milestones part of the original grant? I support holding off on further discussion until we have our questions answered.
    • Remains open for feedback.
  • Zcash Open Learning Lab Space
    • Onose Oghenevwogaga is requesting $15,000 to establish the Zcash Open Learning Lab space in Nigeria aimed at providing Web 3 developers with resources to transition into Zcash developers. The lab offers co-working space, training events, and live streaming of Zcash-related content including things like Zcon to help grow Zcash’s presence in Nigeria. The project also includes hosting four monthly Zcash meetups supporting developer contests, and creating a collaborative space for Web 3 innovation. The grant funds will go to cover lab setup equipment and event costs for the first year with a focus on increasing Zcash adoption and fostering financial privacy education. It’s too early to vote so committee members were asked for their initial input.
    • Gguy: Unfortunately just don’t have the spare resources available to fund these risky projects that don’t guarantee large amounts of adoption.
    • Brian: Agreed, out of scope for our priorities.
    • Artkor: I’m understanding this proposal but with our limited resources, I don’t believe it should be prioritized at this time.
    • Zerodartz: I think it’s trying to do too much. The budget isn’t actually that big, but I’m still hesitant since there hasn’t been any community feedback on it so far. So if the community wants to see it, please let us know by giving your opinion on this and other proposals. I’m not leaning toward approving it right now.
    • Artkor: Proposals like this feel good for the community but don’t always work very well.
    • Jason: Let’s wait to see if there’s any community feedback and we can revisit it next meeting.
    • Remains open for feedback.

Brainstorm Session Follow-Ups

  • BC: ZeWiF Milestone Amendment
    • ZCG discussed and approved the amended request, pending required changes to the grant submission on Github.
  • Lightwalletd RFP Response
    • Mlabs submitted a RFP response for ZCG’s review. Further discussion and time for community feedback is required.
  • BTCPayServer
    • There are at least two real world examples of projects waiting for this integration: TOR supporting shielded ZEC donations and NYM accepting ZEC. 1337Bytes is working on a proposal to address this integration.
  • Maya Protocol Update
    • Hoping for ZEC activation before the end of April. Maya team is currently working on smoke/sim testing and then Hanh will integrate xchainjs. Then Maya will do stage testing on stagenet, and then release to mainnet.
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