# Zcash Governance Model Design & Selection Process **URL:** \ **Category:** Applications\ **Created:** [March 5, 2025, 5:45pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/zcash-governance-model-design-selection-process/50538 "2025-03-05T17:45:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![areta](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/areta/32/36110_2.png) [@areta](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/areta)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 5:45pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/zcash-governance-model-design-selection-process/50538/1 "2025-03-05T17:45:55Z")
Hello, Zcash community! We recently submitted our ZCG grant proposal, which we had previously outlined in [our introduction post](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/areta-governance-introduction/50442), and we’re excited to share it with you for feedback. We’ve had an issue sharing a public GitHub link to our application, so in the meantime, please find our full ZCG application below. Once that link is live, we’ll attach it at the top of this thread. # Grant Application - Zcash Governance Model Design & Selection Process **Application Owners (@GitHub Username)** [@areta-team](https://github.com/areta-team) **Organization Name** Areta Governance **How did you learn about Zcash Community Grants?** Areta was introduced to the ecosystem via Jason/Robert from Shielded Labs and learned of ZCG for funding governance initiatives from there. **Requested Grant Amount (USD)** Total Funding: $190,000 USD split into three tranches (more info below) **Category** Research and Development > **Team Information** > > 1. **Project Lead** > > 2. **Additional Team Members** > **Project Details** > > 1. **Project Summary** > > 2. **Project Description** > > ![Screenshot 2025-03-04 at 5.45.58 PM (1)](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/original/3X/1/8/18812bd3e5d440894b19a728aaab10590e4bbb7d.png) > > 1. **Proposed Problem** > > 2. **Proposed Solution** > > ![Screenshot 2025-03-03 at 5.45.31 PM (1)](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/original/3X/9/6/96a5a56f7d6ff915846741db8ac320108915a8ff.png) > > Areta Governance specializes in helping foundations and DAOs establish and grow decentralized governance structures. The proposed project team for Zcash has worked on core governance design, capital allocation and growth, and strategic initiatives for leading ecosystems like Uniswap, Arbitrum, Safe, Aave, and dYdX. > > The proposed solution draws on our conversations with different Zcash stakeholders, and was acutely designed to address each of the above outlined challenges Zcash faces in pursuing a new governance model. > > First, prior to engaging in a deeper governance objective and model design process, it is imperative to have a mechanism for finding consensus and making an ultimate decision on which model to move forward with. As such, the first phase of our grant (tentatively scheduled for 3 months) proposes the development of a decision-making mechanism, including: > > - **Analyzing gaps in the current Zcash decision-making process** , including feedback and insight calls with different stakeholders; > - Designing a temporary **decision-making process** for selecting the future governance model; > - **Aligning on the process with stakeholders** (incl. ZCF, ECC, SL, community proxies). > > After a decision-making mechanism is agreed upon, we will kick off a broader process for the discovery of governance objectives and outlining of potential governance models that are tailor-fit for Zcash. Specifically, this phase will have a few key elements: > > 1. Determine **Zcash’s governance objectives** through stakeholder sessions and feedback forms. This will enable community members, builders, coinholders, contributors, and projects to share their views on governance (both publicly or anonymously, as preferred). > 2. Organize and lead public workshops to educate the community, solicit feedback, and iterate to **narrow down on potential governance models**. This phase will also include feedback gathering through private surveys and direct calls with stakeholders. > 3. Outline the **landscape of relevant Zcash governance models** , including existing discussed models and Areta’s recommendations, such as: > 1. zBloc Funding Model > 2. Community and Coinholder Funding Model > 3. Bicameral Model > 4. Areta Suggestions (TBD) > 5. Other Community Suggestions > > 4. Drive decision-making on and **selection of Zcash’s governance model**. > > This streamlined process is specifically designed to address the existing challenges within the Zcash ecosystem while providing stakeholders with a clear roadmap for understanding, navigating, and meaningfully participating in the selection of a new governance model. > > 1. **Solution Format** > > 2. **Dependencies** > > 3. **Technical Approach** > > 4. **Upstream Merge Opportunities** > **Budget** > > 1. **Hardware/Software Costs (USD)** > > 2. **Hardware/Software Justification** > > 3. **Service Costs (USD)** > > 4. **Service Costs Justification** > > 5. **Compensation Costs (USD)** > > 6. **Compensation Costs Justification** > > Consisting of two senior resources, incl. co-founder, and one project manager dedicated to the design, analysis, and stakeholder management of the Governance model selection. And an additional junior resource to facilitate community interaction, and supporting governance model research and design. > > 1. **Total Budget (USD)** > > $190,000 USD > > 1. **Previous Funding** > > 2. **Previous Funding Details** > > 3. **Other Funding Sources** > > 4. **Other Funding Sources Details** > **Risk Assessment** > > 1. **Implementation Risks** > > 2. **Potential Side Effects** > **Success Metrics & Schedule** > > 1. **Success Metrics** > > 2. **Startup Funding (USD)** > > 3. **Startup Funding Justification** > > 4. **Milestone Details** > > 5. **Supporting Documents** The community will play a key role in this process, so we’re eager to have you involved and share your feedback at this early stage. Looking forward to the discussion! ---
**Author:** ![aquietinvestor](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/aquietinvestor/32/34528_2.png) [@aquietinvestor](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/aquietinvestor)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 6:05pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/zcash-governance-model-design-selection-process/50538/2 "2025-03-05T18:05:30Z")
Hi @areta - Thank you for submitting your grant proposal! We will review it in the upcoming weeks and reach out if we have any questions. In the meantime, if you have any questions for us, you can post them to this thread or DM us at [@ZcashGrants](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/groups/zcashgrants). Zcash Community - We want to hear your feedback on this grant! You can post your comments to this thread or DM us at [@ZcashGrants](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/groups/zcashgrants) if you’d like to provide feedback in private. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![outgoing.doze](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/outgoing.doze/32/37355_2.png) [@outgoing.doze](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/outgoing.doze)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 3:42am UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/zcash-governance-model-design-selection-process/50538/3 "2025-03-07T03:42:08Z")
How do you intend to get stakeholders at large on the table? As a first step, I suggest that stakeholders are placed in control of the dev fund where they would only have a veto power on carefully crafted proposals (max once a month) stemming from the current governance structure. I am talking about on-chain governance here if that was not clear; funds cannot leave the dev fund unless approved by stakeholders. I don’t see that method in your landscape of relevant Zcash governance models, and I would appreciate to understand why. ---
**Author:** ![gigantes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4bbf92/32.png) [@gigantes](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/gigantes)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 7:09am UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/zcash-governance-model-design-selection-process/50538/4 "2025-03-07T07:09:25Z")
This grant proposal seems like a well organized decision-making process. ---
**Author:** ![areta](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/areta/32/36110_2.png) [@areta](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/areta)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 12:19pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/zcash-governance-model-design-selection-process/50538/5 "2025-03-07T12:19:36Z")
Hi outgoing.doze, Thanks for the great question. During our preliminary discussions, each stakeholder committed to participating in the broader public process. Accordingly, it will be important for us to maintain strong communication with all major stakeholders to ensure their buy-in and reduce the risk of anyone withdrawing from participation, particularly as it becomes closer to making a decision. As mentioned in the proposal, we’ll manage these relationships throughout the process using calls, asynchronous discussions, and feedback monitoring. The list of models we described was by no means exhaustive, and a stakeholder veto model for the devfund, as you suggest, is certainly a possibility moving forward. If you’re open to chatting through some of these ideas, we would be more than happy to find a time to jump on a call (or whatever preferable format) and discuss in more detail. ---
**Author:** ![outgoing.doze](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/outgoing.doze/32/37355_2.png) [@outgoing.doze](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/outgoing.doze)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 1:42pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/zcash-governance-model-design-selection-process/50538/6 "2025-03-07T13:42:14Z")
> [@areta](#): > > we’ll manage these relationships There is a dire need for a governance overhaul, so you have my attention. However, just so it is clear, having an entity doing the intermediary between stakeholders is not at all how I envision the long term governance of the dev fund. If you initially managing the relationships is part of a bigger plan to let us connect directly, then I’d be very happy with that. I don’t know that many stakeholders are actually participating or even looking at this forum, we may be able to clarify that soon. An idea I have been mulling over is the creation of an “exclusive”, secure and private, discussion area (Signal group or otherwise) restricted to entities holding more than 1‰, for more than one year, of the final ZEC supply; call it “Unit 21000” or whatever. Only 1000 entities can ever be in that group, but I’d estimate that we’ll get maybe 50-200 at most. That would be a reasonable size for a live discussion. We should have such discussions area for 0.1‰ or less as well, but I don’t know that the format could be the same, at some point a large number of people could become difficult to follow and enable constructive discussions. ---
**Author:** ![areta](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/areta/32/36110_2.png) [@areta](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/areta)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 8:35am UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/zcash-governance-model-design-selection-process/50538/7 "2025-03-10T08:35:25Z")
> [@outgoing.doze](#): > > If you initially managing the relationships is part of a bigger plan to let us connect directly, then I’d be very happy with that. Yes, this is exactly the plan! We will manage the relationships in the short-term to ensure alignment while we identify the best methods to enable direct connections going forward. > [@outgoing.doze](#): > > An idea I have been mulling over is the creation of an “exclusive”, secure and private, discussion area (Signal group or otherwise) restricted to entities holding more than 1‰, for more than one year, of the final ZEC supply; call it “Unit 21000” or whatever. Only 1000 entities can ever be in that group, but I’d estimate that we’ll get maybe 50-200 at most. That would be a reasonable size for a live discussion. Thank you for the idea, it’s greatly appreciated - we’ll make sure to include it in the option space and will reach out to iterate if relevant. In the workshop, we’ll present the option space with multiple potential governance model options that are fit for purpose and guide through the selection process. ---
**Author:** ![outgoing.doze](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/outgoing.doze/32/37355_2.png) [@outgoing.doze](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/outgoing.doze)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2025, 5:43am UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/zcash-governance-model-design-selection-process/50538/8 "2025-03-18T05:43:57Z")
Hello @areta, Have you received any update regarding your application? As you can see on the below thread, three CEOs in control of the code running the network, yet not elected by ZEC shareholders, are colluding to very quickly and quietly push forward with their plans to steal, [once again](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/proposal-for-a-community-coin-holder-funding-model/50332/111), from ZEC holders. This is happening in a context where they [refuse to answer](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/community-polling-on-funding-model-zips/50617/4) of the legitimacy of the vote they intend to push through. I am looking forward to seeing your application approved; we really need someone to make sense of the current governance mess ECC and ZF have put the project in. > [@Community Polling on Funding Model ZIPs](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/community-polling-on-funding-model-zips/50617): > > Dear Zcash Community, We have important decisions ahead that will significantly impact Zcash’s governance and sustainability. After many months of calls for proposals and discussions, we are at a critical decision point. Collaboration and cooperation among Zcash organizations and ecosystem partners is essential for determining the path forward. In this spirit, @Alex_ZF (interim Executive Director of the Zcash Foundation), @aquietinvestor (Executive Director of Shielded Labs), and I have been m… ---
**Author:** ![areta](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/areta/32/36110_2.png) [@areta](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/areta)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2025, 1:42pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/zcash-governance-model-design-selection-process/50538/9 "2025-03-18T13:42:20Z")
Hello, Given the ongoing restructuring at the Foundation level, compressed funding timelines, and evolving decision-making processes, **our ZCG application, in its current form, was not approved.** We remain engaged with the community and are open to contributing a more streamlined version of our proposal to support the development of a governance model should that be relevant in the future. In the meantime, we’ll continue following the discussions and are always available for questions or further collaboration. Feel free to reach out anytime by DM. ---
**Author:** ![ZCG](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/zcg/32/33712_2.png) [@ZCG](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/ZCG)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2025, 1:43pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/zcash-governance-model-design-selection-process/50538/10 "2025-03-18T13:43:27Z")
@areta Thank you for your submission. After consideration from [@ZcashGrants](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/groups/zcashgrants)and sufficient time for the community to provide feedback on the forum, the committee has decided to reject this proposal. The committee appreciates your grant submission efforts and encourages you to continue as an active member of the Zcash community going forward!