Hi all! Here is our third monthly report and the final report for Zcash Network School, Grant #266, covering May to July 2026.
Thank you again to ZCG and the Zcash community for supporting this work.
Summary
July was our third and final month. It also became a month none of us could have prepared for.
Network School’s Malaysia campus closed during the third week of July, with very little notice. Our Zcash office remained fully operational through July 21, the campus’s final operating day. We delivered both planned educational events before the closure. We also activated 39 new wallets in July, taking the total to 102 against a target of 100.
The closure interrupted two scheduled office hours, a Network School Showcase appearance, and the remaining interview schedule. Residents dispersed across different locations while Network School began developing its next campus in Kazakhstan. The team remained active online, providing support and much-needed guidance around the Ironwood activation and wallet migration.
The project was progressing well, and we intended not only to continue but also to expand its geographic reach, including a physical presence in Kuala Lumpur. Now we are back to the drawing board. Still, the three-month result is clear:
- 102 wallet activations against a target of 100;
- 6 planned educational events delivered out of 6;
- 10 office hours delivered out of 12;
- 7 merchant integrations against a target of 4;
- 5 user interviews against a target of 10;
- 6 additional community appearances beyond the planned educational events;
- $12,378.75 spent from the approved $13,600.00 budget.
We are therefore requesting $1,498.75 as the final claim, instead of the full $2,720.00 Milestone 3 tranchele, leaving $1,221.25 of the approved budget unclaimed.
Over these three months, we built a lively community and a true physical Zcash hub that became part of everyday life at Network School. We were an experiment living inside an experiment. We are happy with the results and believe we delivered real value to the Zcash community.
Part I: Month 3, July 2026
Milestone 3 Deliverables
| Milestone 3 deliverable |
July result |
Status |
| Zcash office operational |
Active through July 21, the final day of the Malaysia campus |
✅Complete through closure |
| 2 educational events |
Privacy is Normal and ZKP 101 delivered |
✅Complete, 2/2 |
| 4 weekly office hours |
2 delivered; July 23 and July 28 sessions canceled after the closure |
⚠️Partial, 2/4 |
| Final onboarding push and incentives |
39 new wallets activated |
✅Complete |
| POS support for businesses |
7 completed merchant integrations against a target of 4 |
✅Complete, 7/4 |
| User interviews completed |
1 interview in July; 5 total against a target of 10 |
⚠️Partial, 5/10 |
| Continuity maintainers identified |
Online support continued after the campus closed |
✅Adapted online |
| Comprehensive final report |
Month 3 and full project results consolidated in this report |
✅Complete |
Office
The Zcash office remained active until July 21. It continued to give residents a place to install a wallet, ask questions, troubleshoot transactions, and discuss Zcash beyond a scheduled presentation.
When the campus closed, the office closed with it. Residents dispersed, ourselves included, but we continued supporting people online and in person when possible. There is no longer an on-site maintainer or physical Zcash office in Forest City.
Educational Events
July target: 2 events. Delivered: 2.
| Event |
Date |
Registered |
Attended in person |
| Privacy is Normal |
July 9, 2026 |
39 |
15 |
| Zero Knowledge Proofs 101 |
July 16, 2026 |
28 |
13 |
| Total |
|
67 |
28 |
Both events competed with a crowded Network School calendar but attracted highly engaged attendees. The sessions completed our six-event commitment and became an important surface for July wallet onboarding.
Additional Visibility
We participated in two additional community appearances beyond the planned July events:
- The recurring Network School Fair.
- The Holy Trinity [NEAR x Zcash x Hyperliquid] in Kuala Lumpur, where Andre represented the project and introduced Zcash to a selected group of around 20 investors and crypto community leaders at a local technology hub.
The invitation for the Trinity event mattered. It showed that Zcash Network School could connect the campus program to a broader regional audience. Andre funded the Kuala Lumpur participation personally because the approved grant did not include an outreach budget.
A second Kuala Lumpur invitation followed, and we also intended to participate in the Network School Showcase. Both plans were interrupted by the campus closure.
Office Hours
July target: 4 sessions. Delivered: 2.
| Session |
Date |
Registered |
Attended |
| Week 1 |
July 7, 2026 |
18 |
9 |
| Week 2 |
July 16, 2026 |
13 |
4 |
| Total |
|
31 |
13 |
The sessions planned for July 23 and July 28 were canceled because the campus had closed. In-person and online support continued outside the formal sessions when residents needed help.
Office hours had already changed in function during the previous month. As wallet setup moved into the educational events, the smaller weekly sessions became more useful for deep dives and technical discussions with our most engaged community members.
Onboarding and Wallet Activations
July produced the strongest onboarding result of the three months.
| Month |
New wallet activations |
Cumulative |
| May |
36 |
36 |
| June |
27 |
63 |
| July |
39 |
102 |
We activated 39 wallets, closing at 102/100.
We offered wallet onboarding to attendees at the Holy Trinity event. This helped us offset the office closure and reach a different audience outside Network School.
POS and Merchant Adoption
The final number remained 7 completed merchant integrations against a target of 4.
We kept the business incentive introduced in June: $20 in ZEC upon activation.
Some merchants received ZEC payments, but the early closure limited our ability to follow integrations through repeated transactions and interrupted other possible implementations.
User Interviews
We completed 1 interview in July, bringing the final total to 5 against a target of 10. We did not meet this target.
Five interviews showed a useful pattern:
- New crypto users did not clearly understand the practical value of financial privacy.
- More experienced users often recognized Zcash as a long-standing project but knew little about its current capabilities and roadmap.
- Business owners were open to accepting ZEC, especially as a private payment option, but needed training and follow-up.
The implication is practical. Zcash was rarely unknown by name, but basic awareness does not equal understanding, which impacts adoption. Education, community presence, and clear product communication still have work to do.
Community Integration
The Kuala Lumpur event and our Q Day participation in the previous month showed the potential of another form of integration. Zcash was introduced inside a cross-ecosystem setting to an experienced audience, not only to residents of Network School.
After July 21, residents were scattered across different locations. The team continued answering questions online and during occasional in-person meetings outside a Network School setting, as the community no longer had a shared physical base.
Part II: Project Closeout, May to July 2026
Final Results Against the Approved Targets
| Metric |
Final result |
Target |
Context |
| Wallet activations |
102 |
100 |
Target exceeded |
| Planned educational events |
6 |
6 |
All planned events delivered |
| In-person event attendance |
100 |
20 to 60 per event |
17 attendees per session on average |
| Office hours sessions |
10 |
12 |
Final two canceled after the campus closure |
| Office hours attendance |
66 |
5 to 25 per session |
7 attendees per session on average |
| Completed merchant integrations |
7 |
4 |
Target exceeded |
| User interviews |
5 |
10 |
Partial completion |
| Additional community appearances |
6 |
Not set |
Delivered beyond the planned events |
| Monthly reports |
3 |
3 |
Complete with this report |
What We Learned
1. A room made privacy practical.
Wallet software can be downloaded anywhere, but that requires trust. Adoption improved when people had a room full of friends and someone knowledgeable nearby when a sync, wallet, or transaction did not behave as expected.
2. A physical hub gave protocol news a human interface.
Important Zcash news arrived throughout the project, including the Orchard vulnerability disclosure and the Ironwood activation. Residents did not have to interpret those changes alone.
3. Physical presence opened regional doors.
The office and recurring events made Zcash visible enough to generate invitations beyond our own programming. Q Day connected us to a broader conversation about quantum risk and cryptographic infrastructure. The Trinity event brought Zcash into a selected Kuala Lumpur audience.
4. Merchant adoption needs training and follow-up.
Seven completed integrations exceeded the target, and merchants did receive ZEC payments.
Spending and Final Claim
The team remained active through the closeout: Andre led education strategy, program delivery, finance, reporting, and ecosystem development; James led infrastructure, ZK education, wallet onboarding, and merchant support; Danette supported operations and onboarding.
| Category |
May |
June |
July |
Final total |
Approved budget |
| Team compensation |
$3,400.00 |
$3,400.00 |
$3,400.00 |
$10,200.00 |
$10,200.00 |
| Office |
$400.00 |
$800.00 |
$0.00 |
$1,200.00 |
$1,200.00 |
| Supplies and materials |
$413.75 |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
$413.75 |
$1,400.00 |
| User incentives |
$180.00 |
$175.00 |
$210.00 |
$565.00 |
$800.00 |
| Total |
$4,393.75 |
$4,375.00 |
$3,610.00 |
$12,378.75 |
$13,600.00 |
The July office was paid in advance, as June’s $800 payment covered June and July. After the unexpected pause in campus activity, we paused orders for additional supplies.
The project had received $10,880.00 through the startup, Milestone 1, and Milestone 2 payments. We are requesting $1,498.75 as the final claim, instead of the full $2,720.00 Milestone 3 tranche.
This brings the effective community investment to $12,378.75. We will not request the $1,221.25 that remained unused from the approved budget.
Continuity and Next Steps
The Forest City office is closed, and our planned continuation is on hold.
Network School and Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development have announced an agreement to develop a campus in Kazakhstan. Its timing and operating details are still developing.
We are monitoring that path, as well as other opportunities to grow practical Zcash education and adoption across Asia.
We intend to return with a follow-up proposal once the location, partners, and delivery model are clear enough to support the work. Until then, we will continue helping former residents online and maintaining the regional relationships built during the project.
If you are building Zcash education, merchant adoption, or community infrastructure in Asia and see a concrete path for collaboration, please DM me.
Closing
Thank you to ZCG and the Zcash community for giving us the opportunity to test Zcash education and adoption in a real community. Special thanks to @Michae2xl, who supported us as an advisor throughout the project with strategic guidance.
The project did not end the way we expected. But it produced relevant results: people installed wallets, merchants received ZEC payments, the community grew, and Zcash gained a physical presence and recognition inside a community of builders.
We are proud of what the team delivered, honest about the few KPIs that remained incomplete, and committed to carrying the lessons into whatever comes next.
Kivous here 
