The possible use cases are as numerous as with any Defi system. One example might be the ability to purchase an NFT using shielded ZEC, allowing the purchaser privacy by shielding onlookers from prior transactions and ZEC holdings. Another example use case might be the ability to loan ZEC for yield where the originator of the loan remains private.
Does this mean ZEC is actively pursuing to become an IBC-compatible Cosmos Zone?
On a similar note, KEEP Network is soon launching a NuCypher collaborative solution for tBTC v2. Considering Mattās @mhluongo past activity in here, is there a tZEC solution thatās actively being researched/built at the moment?
Good question. For those new to Cosmos, Iād recommend playing with the Interchain Liquidity Lab (aka OSMO Dex) to see how it works. Keplr works on PC and mobile and has become not only easy to use, it is almost fun. I see app chains like becoming useful if this route is taken. (ZSAās) . Without a doubt the killer application for anything Crypto is stable coins, but we still lack a private option that I think might be possible moving forward. The idea of scaling horizontally with chain apps really appeals to me
Another example:
Celestia is the first modular blockchain network that makes it effortless to deploy a new blockchain. It allows sovereign blockchains to break free from the constraints of monolithic architectures so that they can build with flexibility and freedom on their own terms. Celestia has no smart contract features; it only orders data and checks to see if it is available. This is because smart contracts are only necessary for blockchains where applications will live. This decoupling of features alleviates some of the largest problems that hold back blockchains from scaling.
No clue, this was me phrasing a rhetorical question. Iām really bummed out/confused why $ZEC wasnāt initially apart of the agoric tech stack or a mechanism for minting IST or BLD. Seems like there wasnāt even a public discussion about the two projects working together(arenāt they both Bootstrap entities?) on this forum or anywhere public.
No, Agoric is a completely different project. Bootstrap/ECC has a stake in them as far as we know and thatās it. Nothing that suggests ZEC will be used in Agoric in the near term.
Update: Added the fact that Zookoās on BoD of both orgs.
Agoric.com is an independent company, and Bootstrap owns some equity. Zooko is on the board of directors of both organizations. ECC & Agoric teams like each other and chat occasionally, but thereās not tight coordination or control of the two separate companies.
We have chatted with them about integrating ZEC prior to their launch. Thatās always something on my radar at ECC. However, my personal understanding is that there are three main possibilities for integrating ZEC into the Agoric platform:
Develop Zcash-chain specific integration on Agoric. They chose to use a general platform (Cosmos) which makes sense from their perspective, because it integrates into a broad ecosystem instead of one chain. It also makes sense technically, since a Zcash integration would be bespoke and custom, whereas Cosmos allows them to build on an SDK and have a standard interface to a large number of chains.
Develop an Agoric bridge on Zcash: ECC simply hasnāt had the resources for this yet. Furthermore, since theyāve adopted Cosmos, this task is reduced to āadd IBC protocol to Zcashā, which is something weāre investigating.
Establish a custodial bridge, like WZEC for Agoric. Neither ECC nor Agoric.com is in a position to be a custodian (huge regulatory hurdles, huge operational risk, completely different specialty versus protocol development). We also have not yet found a custodian who would want to launch and operate such a custodial-bridge, but this may be a possibility in the future.
Of these three, the second seems most promising, and ECCās stated roadmap includes ācross-chain interoperabilityā as one of three priorities (along with wallet UX and proposing a Proof-of-Stake transition.).
Meanwhile, Zcashers should be asking āwhy Agoric versus other alternatives or priorities?ā I agree that we shouldnāt over-prioritize them. However, I personally feel fairly confident in their value proposition on two fronts:
Their smart contract programming model is superior to Ethereum and most Ethereum-likes. This is constantly reinforced as I learn about Ethereum smart contract security & UX failures, and I believe Agoricās model is a >10x improvement on both security and UX. (They are also active in Cosmos IBC protocol specifications which I believe will be a boon to Cosmos interop security/UX as well.)
The target language is Javascript which has something over 100x as many developers versus āsmart contractā developers.
That being said, the platform is still very early and there are many challenges to widespread adoption.
So thatās my braindump on ECC & Agoric.com and Zcash+Agoric tech. Keep in mind, Iām not the one at ECC who is most often engaging with other industry partners like Agoric, and so my perspective may be limited or skewed.
Extremely helpful response, thank you! I know theyāre an independent project but back when ECC made the announcement that they were investors, I assumed (incorrectly) there would be some collaboration. My naive investment mind instantly went to āthis is how zcash gets integrated into smart contracts and defiā.
I am super excited about Agoric and totally agree with your points above.
This wasnāt an incorrect assumption. Agoricās focus has been a successful launch and ours has been NU5, and now research on PoS and interop. There are a lot of things to work through but we have a strong relationship, idealogical alignment, and we actively spend time exploring possibilities.
Original Poster here forgot to renew an old domain, now that account is r.i.p.
The āsecure programmingā argument has also been used by Tezos (OCaml, & arguably yet another dPoS chain). Vyper is a security-focused EVM alternative.
I donāt think thatās much of an argument; Lisk tried to use the same angle during a time when the ratio between solidity & javascript devs was MUCH more in favor than it is now (also dPoS). That was 2016, ETHās market share seemed much less engrained back then yet they still failed to attract any talent.
All to say that I donāt believe Agoric to be a 10x improvement; if anything, IBC EVM chains like EVMOS could seamlessly port empirically safe dapps over from Ethereum and if done right, ZEC would be able to inter-operate with ANY IBC chain, with no specific one in mind.
In designing the a Zcash IBC compatibility, please donāt forget the implications of rented security, max validator collusion, bonding periods & delegator inflexibility, 34% attacks (assuming weād use Tendermint SDK)
happy to see my November post being resurrected though
becoming useful if this route is taken. (ZSAās) . Without a doubt the killer application for anything Crypto is stable coins, but we still lack a private option that I think might be possible moving forward. The idea of scaling horizontally with chain apps really appeals to me 
happy to see my November post being resurrected though 
please DYOR and have fun 
One current way has been highlighted by 
Encourage others to explorer, and have fun. 
