ZCG Candidate Questions Thread - Post and Upvote!

[artkor]

I love this question the most because it makes we think about where the bottlenecks are in Zcash right now. This is an important thing for future goal setting.

[Batuhan]

If other committee members evaluate a proposal positively while you view it negatively, is there a possibility you would change your mind, or would you maintain your original stance? Additionally, if you have disagreements with other members regarding the metrics, how would you manage that process?

[pitmutt]

What kind of projects would you support to further adoption of ZEC payments?

[kralux]

In addition to the video we taped, here are my written answers:

1. I’m a hardware and software developer, and an entrepreneur. In the last five years, I successfully sold my company to a Fortune 500 firm.
   My first success started at the age of 16 when I coded and sold a video game for the Atari ST and Amiga computers. After that I spent years designing integrated circuits, then software for mobile phones and in the past 15 years building power conversion microinverters, for solar. My current project is a super secure digital safety deposit box for seed phrases and inheritance secrets. Member of local angel investor group which is relevant experience for serving on ZCG
   I am an OG Bitcoiner. My life changed when I discovered Bitcoin. I became obsessed with it, seeing it as the best economic and political tool offered to humanity. I started paying my friends in Bitcoin and use it as much as I could to promote it. Unfortunately today it doesn’t work as well as it used to.
   I am also a long-term Zcash holder and now I pay contractors abroad as well as my pool guy in ZCash…I love the beauty and magic of Zero knowledge proofs.
   To me, crypto isn’t just an asset class.
   It is the last hope for freedom and the only antidote to global control.
   I am self-nominating because I believe Zcash is crucial to the survival of freedom in this world, and I want to bring a strict, business mindset based on meritocracy to the Zcash Community Grants.
   I believe we must return to Satoshi’s original vision: cryptocurrency as peer-to-peer digital cash. Bitcoin has succeeded as a Store of Value so far, but it lacks the speed and fungibility required to be a true Medium of Exchange.
   Zcash solves this through privacy, because: privacy is fungibility. With our faster network and the upcoming Tachyon upgrade, Zcash has a much better shot at becoming the dominant global currency than Bitcoin ever will.
   My vision is to relentlessly drive ZCash towards acceptability and usability as private digital cash.
   The ZCG treasury is not a social fund; it is a war chest for building useful tools and grow the community.
   To bootstrap adoption, we need to lower barriers to entry and fund marketing rooted in education.
   In an effort to further decentralize, we need (1) multiple client implementations, (2) tools for decentralized governance like on-chain proposals, stakeholder voting, better visibility, and (3) continue the long-term development of the tech.
   I am here to serve the Zcash mission. I’m ready to steward the ZCG with a focus on efficiency, accountability, and the unyielding pursuit of a private, free financial future.

2. Some people are more impressed with reputation, others with technical merit.
   Clearly they both matter but I would prioritize Technical Merit over reputation.
   “social reputation” is becoming an increasingly unreliable metric: it is too easy to manipulate with bots, astroturfing (think of XRP) and it can be short-lived.
   I weigh Technical Merit and Verifiable Deliverables above all else. And that would create reputation, not the other way.
   While reputation helps establish an initial baseline of trust, it cannot be the sole basis for funding.
   I will apply a “Don’t Trust, Verify” approach to all applicants.
   For instance: A well-known community member submitting a vague proposal should be rejected, while an unknown developer providing a really good working proof-of-concept should be funded.
   To defeat the AI-bias, getting to know the person/project matters even more today. This can be achieved with more communication and calls with the principals of a prpoject.
   I will fund the best builders first; their reputation will follow the results, not vice-versa.

3. In general, I would have voted against any “Ambassador” or “Educational Hub” grant that lacked performance-based payment tranches.
   Specifically, grants that award large upfront sums for content creation without verified view metrics or engagement indicators represent poor stewardship.
   If I had to pick a general type, I would vote against purely social marketing initiatives that cannot prove a Cost-Per-Acquisition for new Zcash users.
   To be specific, If I were making a judgment purely on return-on-capital, measurable output, and strategic value per dollar, Zcash Media — as funded by ZCG — is likely the weakest link. spending a million dollars on video production while our protocol lacks basic DeFi utility is a failure of prioritization. As a businessman, I look at ROI, and the customer acquisition cost from this grant was astronomically high.
   Another one would be the Zcash x THORChain Integration because it represents the ultimate failure of execution: high cost, zero delivery, and years of wasted time.
   An honorable mention goes to the Parity Zcash implementation that has been dead for several years.

4. Protected: The cypherpunk ethos. It is our root, our DNA. To forget it or go against it would be suicide.
   The unyielding commitment to privacy, mathematics, and freedom from global financial surveillance.
   This is our unique value proposition.
   What needs improving:
   We need to shed the image of an academic science experiment and embrace more of a posture of a financial product competing for global dominance
   Have a more inclusive, larger base.
   Involve more stakeholders in the process via decentralization → stakeholder voting and on-chain proposals culminating ultimately in a DAO possibly. Although timing is crucial for that since doing it too early is an issue since it is not decentralized, and too late risks the capture of the project the way Bitcoin was.

[kralux]

1. Usability & MoE Tools: Bootstrap adoption to promote the Medium of Exchange aspect of ZEC. Point-of-Sale (POS) integrations, seamless mobile wallet upgrades, and fiat on/off ramps that make ZEC easier to spend than cash.
2. Hard Tech: Optimization of the protocol (Zebra, Tachyon) and hardware wallet integration. This should never end. There will always be new challenges coming our way.
3. Adoption Engines: Marketing that targets specific demographics (e.g., circular economies) with measurable results.
4. Build tools for decentralized governance (live dashboards, direct voting, delegated voting, stakeholder involvement, on-chain proposals, DAO).
5. Have multiple implementations of the full node client for obvious reasons.

[kralux]

Those that can’t be measured in terms of results (no metrics, no CAC or ROI, …).
Those that stray too far away from the main mission/brand.

[kralux]

The Zcash Community is a group of people who value the cypherpunk ethos.
We have an unyielding commitment to privacy.
We understand that the killer app of blockchain is private and honest MONEY.

[Onikhe-biss]

1. Introduce yourself, plus: What is the most important reason why you want to join ZCG?

My name is Chibuike, and I’m a software developer who cares deeply about the mission of Zcash and the role it plays in protecting financial privacy.

The most important reason I want to join ZCG is to help strengthen the bridge between the ecosystem and the community. I want to make sure the grants we fund bring real value, solve real problems, and move Zcash toward greater adoption.

I believe in accountability, transparency, and supporting contributors in a way that makes their work meaningful and measurable. For me, being part of ZCG is about serving the community and helping Zcash grow with purpose.

2. When evaluating prospective grants/projects, how do you weigh “Social Reputation” vs “Technical Merit” given the new realities with AI?

In today’s world, AI can make almost anyone look polished on paper. Because of that, I place more weight on technical merit — real skills, strong execution plans, and verifiable past work. That’s the foundation.

Social reputation still matters, but I see it more as a trust signal, not a decision-maker on its own. A strong reputation should support a good proposal, not replace it.

So my approach is:

Technical merit first,Reputation as a secondary filter,

And proof of ability over popularity, especially in an AI-driven era.

3. What is one grant that ZCG approved that you would have voted against if you had been on the committee?

I would have voted against any grant where the scope wasn’t clear, the goals weren’t measurable, or the long-term value to the ecosystem wasn’t well defined.

For example, some past marketing or outreach grants had very broad objectives but lacked strong KPIs, clear deliverables, or trackable impact.

I prefer projects that show exactly what they will deliver, how it will benefit the ecosystem, and how we can measure success. If a grant doesn’t meet that standard, I would not support it.

4. What’s your view on Zcash’s brand and community culture — what needs to change, and what must be protected at all costs?
What must be protected at all costs is the core mission of Zcash: privacy, security, and empowerment for everyone. The technical excellence, the open culture, and the global nature of the community are also things I believe should never be compromised.What needs to change is how we communicate and coordinate. Zcash needs clearer storytelling, better execution, and more connected efforts across contributors and organizations. We should also make it easier for new people to join the community and find ways to contribute.

[kralux]

I would not apply for a grant during my tenure for obvious conflict of interest and influence point of view.

[Autotunafish]

Zcash Community Grants (ZCG) Candidate Call - December 2025 Election

[vaspholdings]

Great being on the call with my fellow Dec 2025 ZCG committee candidates this evening!

Would you guys care to answer this question here please?

ZCG Candidate Questions Thread - Post and Upvote!

Do you believe pure coinholder voting is the single legitimate method for governing how the whole 20% of the dev fund is spent? If you do NOT believe that, do you: i) support sole ZCAP voting for all ZCG committee seats (status quo)? OR ii) a change to allow coinholder voting for ZCG committee seats (i.e. either all seats, or some seats)?

[Anaximander]

The discussion was excellent: sharp questions, great discussion, and a real sense of shared mission.

Here are the key points I presented — my positions:

• my one metric: net shielded-spending impact is the metric that matters most

• Simplicity as an obsession for the end users: Privacy must be invisible, frictionless, and faster than alternatives. Shield once, spend privately forever. Zero friction. Reject complexity.

• the global ecosystem and local communities are the real multipliers

• we need both ruthless discipline and real trust in builders

• I propose that ZCG publishes a short “one-pager” on the forum with: key criteria we are using + the main objectives we believe the ecosystem should focus on next → build incentives and provide some guidance

• I believe in engagement and transparency: my selection criteria and thought process will always be public on the forum

• Governance will decide Zcash’s long-term fate more than any single tech upgrade. Governance evolution must be deliberate, balanced and careful

• Leverage Local Communities as Multipliers: support and systematically collect on-the-ground feedback from users worldwide

• We need to build a strong brand. It will open partnerships with other companies that want to be associated with Zcash and vice-versa. My thinking on Brave here: Zcash 90-Day Global Privacy Campaign via Brave — Dec 2025 through Feb 2026 - #12 by Anaximander

More details in my candidacy thread:

Anaximander for ZCG (December 2025)

Switzerland – outsider perspective for the third ZCG seat I am running as the deliberate outsider candidate. In past elections the third seat has often been more open than the first two, and has sometimes gone to fresh, external perspectives that complement the committee’s strengths. That is the role I am aiming to fill. Why I am running Two months ago I discovered Zcash through Naval Ravikant and Balaji Srinivasan. The conclusion was immediate and unavoidable: Zcash is the privacy layer a…

I’ll post my detailed answers to the four questions in the next day or two.

If you believe the third seat should go to a conflict-free outsider who has spent two decades allocating capital and designing incentives at the highest level, I would be honoured by your approval.

Happy to discuss anything.

Anaximander

[artkor]

Yesterday evening flew by very quickly, and it was a real pleasure to hear so many thoughtful and interesting perspectives. Thank you to everyone who decided to run for ZCG. I’d like to emphasize once again that this year the community has been offered an excellent selection of candidates.

[Autotunafish]

I was thinking that too and it’s only a shame that we the have to narrow it down to only 3!

[vaspholdings]

@ShieldOrder

…Sprout deprecation, the same analytical approach applies: today the Sprout pool holds 25.6k ZEC (about 0.2 percent of supply) versus Sapling at 643k and Orchard at 4.1 million. The migration is effectively complete, and deprecation aligns with ZIP 2003, reduces maintenance cost, and eliminates a legacy attack surface once users have a clear window to migrate.

It seems that some CEXes were still using the Sprout shielded pool until recently.

I was watching the total supply over the last month and the amount of ZEC in the Sprout pool would go up by relatively small amounts day-by-day.

That surprised me as I only expected to see ZEC leaving the pool.
What have others observed?

[dismad]

@vaspholdings

I was watching the total supply over the last month and the amount of ZEC in the Sprout pool would go up by relatively small amounts day-by-day.

I think you mean sapling? Sprout is out only.

[vaspholdings]

Thanks. Must have been looking at the wrong field.