Originally sent to the newsletter 
I keep changing my mind about newsletter subject lines. Feel free to reply with feedback. Or to let me know whether you have a preference at all 
— Sonya
August 18 – 26, 2019
Governance
Join the next Zcash Protocol Hangout!
On September 17, we will discuss draft ZIPs that address Zcash development funding. The video call will be recorded and published on the Zcash Foundation’s YouTube channel.
The Electric Coin Company published “ECC Initial Assessment of Community Proposals.” CEO Zooko Wilcox wrote:
Our assessment framework is simple:
Could ECC accept jobs from this fund while remaining true to our mission?
If not, ECC could not make use of this fund, regardless of the financial structure. We know that the community is not limited to proposals that ECC could participate in, but we want to make the community aware of the possible consequences for ECC of each proposal. We will do another assessment in September for any proposal updates or additions.
We will also honor the community’s decision with the use of the trademark. Regardless of whether the community establishes a development fund that ECC can work with, for as long as ECC is stewarding the trademark, we will use it to ensure that exchanges and other third parties use the word “Zcash” only for blockchains/assets that honor the community’s decision.
The company’s report on Q1 spending will be released next week (via Josh Swihart).
Three more links: James Prestwich posted “Zcash Dev Fund Opinions.” Justin Ehrenhofer shared his thoughts on Twitter. The hashtag #ZcashDevFund has been quite active on Twitter.
Grants
The Zcash Foundation and Grant.io interviewed several users of ZF Grants — both successful grantees and total newbies. We’re grateful for their time, since the process was immensely helpful! It produced insights that will guide product direction over the coming months.
Developer ChileBob published a new user guide for Zatsuma 
Zatsuma is a noncustodial Zcash point-of-sale application that was funded on ZF Grants.
Zcash Ecosystem Highlights
Blossom has been activated on testnet! If you run a testnet node, here’s some advice.
Gareth Davies blogged about installing the newly included Insight explorer.
Texting with ZEC? Cointelegraph’s Adrian Zmudzinski reported that “Telx Technologies announced the launch of the first crypto SIM card wallet that enables transactions via SMS.”
Zcash is supported! Zmudzinski explained that “the card allows its users to send cryptocurrencies via SMS with their dedicated crypto phone number,” and transactions are still possible without a smartphone or internet connection. “On the other hand, the system also offers no control over a user’s crypto wallet.”
The Zcash community on Twitter has started using the hashtag #z2z to talk about the benefits of shielded transactions. Open Privacy’s Sarah Jamie Lewis has been experimenting with shielded memos, a feature of Zcash that has caught on with others as well.
One more Twitter highlight:
That’s all! Until next time! 