ZOMG meeting minutes 4-27-2021

Community Grants Community Grants Updates
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ZOMG Google Meet Meeting: April 27, 2021

[Minutes taken by Danika]

Meeting minutes:

Attendance:

  • Hudson Jameson

  • ML_Sudo

  • Shawn

  • Chris Burniske

  • Holmes Wilson

  • Danika Delano acting as notetaker

Pre-meeting Agenda:

  1. Zcash Metamask

  2. Zeme

  3. Arti Rust application (new)

  4. Nighthawk wallet application (update from ML)

  5. Btcpay vs coinpayments for Hanh

  6. Moeda Casa Update

  7. Zcon2 panel topic brainstorm

  8. Quick recap / Debrief from ECC+ZF+ZOMG call last week

Notes:

A Metamask-style browser extension for Zcash

  • Shawn summarized the new proposal to the group saying the team updated proposal is similar to the old one but they added plug-in style and mistfpga as a contributor, who is well versed in security. They also changed the amount from $105K to $150K to compensate for the audit.
  • Hudson asked if there was an additional audit. Shawn replied that his understanding is that mistfpga will do the day-to-day, then they will pay for an external audit. ML said she messaged mistfpga for clarification. Holmes added that he was able to speak with mistfpga who said the audit is not cost effective for a project this size (it doesn’t make sense to spend $50K on an audit). Hudson replied that they may mean that there will be an audit for things like WASM code but he wants to talk to a few people and address it on the forum.
  • Holmes voiced that he had questions about the budget and he wants to check to see if they have someone at ECC lined up for consulting. He pointed out that this is the 2nd project that wants to be able to pay to consult with ECC/ZF. Shawn replied that it is an interesting problem and asked if they know if ECC and ZF even want fees for consulting. Hudson stated that if someone from ECC/ZF is helping outside of normal working hours, it would be okay to fund. He explained that someone could be an employee but a contractor outside of that. He clarified that as long as it doesn’t go into the bank account of ECC or ZF (it is going to an individual), he is fine with it. Holmes agreed with the exception that it is not someone in executive leadership like Zooko. ML asked the members if they are overengineering this as the consulting fee is a small amount of money. Shawn added that if it doesn’t work out with ECC, maybe they can find another consultant or coordinate with ECC or ZF async.
  • Hudson summarized that they want clarification on a security audit and consulting but they are not show-stoppers. He also stated that he doesn’t think ZOMG is ready to make a decision today.
  • Shawn stated that he is in favor of that approach.
  • Chris asked Shawn about his experience with mistfpga and shared that he has observed that they engage in rigorous debate on the forums. Shawn replied that mistfpga is a big contributor and he is supportive of him being on the applicant team. Holmes pointed out that there are some team risks (a designer just graduated from boot camp) but it is a small amount of money (in the grand scheme of things). He said it is interesting and ZOMG is excited so he is supportive as long as they meet expectations.
  • Shawn summarized that they are still looking at the proposal and there aren’t really show stoppers. Hudson volunteered to respond on the forum.

Zeme Team

  • Chris voiced that there is not a team risk with ziga and zipha. He updated the members on his conversation with them: they agreed to keep the site up for 12 months and in response to his question about how they will get people excited, he reminded ZOMG that they would not be paying for a single piece of content, but for a platform to encourage viral content. Chris posted their response to how they will engage community members and said that he respects ML’s hesitations, but he thinks it is worthwhile and the applicants are two good design people with a platform. He added that he thinks they will dedicate themselves further in the future if they are successful.
  • Hudson commented that he likes the idea of investing in people that could do good in the ecosystem, even if this product fails.
  • Holmes stated that he is inclined to go along with funding them and thinks it is cool to let people in who are new to the ecosystem get involved.
  • Shawn also said he is in favor and having a platform is a good goal, especially from members who create quality content.
  • ML said she has no strong objections and is not against funding experiments.

Payment Gateway

  • ML summarized that the applicant is switching from BTCPay to CoinPayments and reminded ZOMG that the applicant originally applied to do BTCPay support then, organically, someone on the forum posted about CoinPayments, saying it is a bigger platform and if we don’t do this, then we won’t have support for something that Zcash used to have support for.
  • ML informed the members that she has been speaking with Andre Serrano at ECC and asked the members if they think the applicant can do everything that is required or if more people need to be pulled in. Shawn said the applicant can pursue working on it and he has posted a scope of work for CoinPayments. He added that they should vote on if he should close BTCPay and and start with CoinPayments. ML replied that she wants to get clarification from ECC folks about what was posted and thinks that he may need to collaborate with other people. Shawn suggested they post that on the forum. ML said she will get an answer from Andre then update ZOMG.
  • Shawn voiced that he is more inclined to shift focus away from BTCpay and everyone agreed. ML commented that, according to stats, CoinPayments is a larger platform and sounds more urgent. She summarized that her next steps are to see if he needs to apply for a new grant and if the applicant needs to collaborate.

Arti: a pure-Rust Tor implementation for Zcash and beyond

  • Hudson pointed out that the grant platform caps out at $999,999, but the actual amount is $1,401,400. ML observed that they have been discussing on the forums for several weeks and the community has strong opinions.
  • Hudson said he wants buy-in from ZF and ECC but he doesn’t think there is a team risk and it’s a good cause. He pointed out that it isn’t as Zcash focused as other things but Zcash could be used very easily. He brought up that they could get a volunteer to code a Zcash Rust client with Tor or cut the grant in half and do the first milestone for half the money. Shawn replied that Holmes suggested they fund for 15 months.
  • Holmes commented that they need to be crystal clear that the end product lands in Zcash and enhances it in a way that is meaningful. He said there are folks saying that is the case but they need to double check because it has to be useful for Zcash and he thinks it is almost exactly the type of place ZOMG can be the most effective with this amount of money. He added that his idea for ZOMG is to pull existing qualified teams into Zcash’s orbit and have a constellation of expert teams around the mission. He also pointed out that the hourly rates are similar to ZecWallet so it is not out of the range of what ZOMG does. Shawn explained that the grant is 10% of ZOMG’s current holdings and although it is a significant amount, he agrees with Holmes.
  • Shawn said for him, personally, Tor is a no brainer but ZOMG’s job is to make sure the community funds will impact Zcash and, at a higher level, it is a noble cause. He asked the members how they ensure good use of community funds.
  • Holmes shared that the leading alternative is MixNet but Tor is battle tested and is likely a good fit, at least in the medium term. He explained that the reason why Arti is important is because Tor was not made to be a library to incorporate into other things. It makes sense to use Tor but it is messy to ship to users and is not stable enough and Arti solves that.
  • Chris commented that it is a tough decision if it will not immediately be incorporated into Zcash. He said he leans toward doing it to make Zcash a nexus. He added that Tor has struggled with funding and this is a good way to pay it forward as Tor makes the top 5 list of privacy infrastructure.
  • ML agreed with Chris but pointed out there is an existential risk of basing decisions on the current exchange rate. Hudson suggested they cut the milestones in half. Shawn suggested they fund up to milestone 1, which would fund for over a year. He added that they still need to talk to ZF and ECC on a technical level to see if it fits in to their software and 2nd to decide if ZOMG wants to have Tor to edit the grant to only have the first two milestones now and reapply for the rest. Hudson pointed out that the first 4 milestones go up to 1.1 which is the point where wallet teams could integrate into wallet apps. Holmes volunteered to respond.
  • Hudson & Holmes shared that they are both going to a Tor conference on April 29.
  • Holmes volunteered to respond on the forums

Moeda.casa - Smart Brazilian Fiat-to-Crypto over Zcash

  • Shawn shared that it is an interesting first milestone and noted that for the small amount of funds they funded a cool project. ML asked what was the ultimate purpose or the grant and Shawn explained that it looks like they will be able to convert local currency into Zcash since their local currency is unstable.

Nighthawk Wallet Design & Development '21

  • ML informed the members that she was able to get the applicant to be more specific on what he is working on and shared the impact bar that the applicant created. She said she feels like this is ready and good to go.
  • Hudson agreed that it looks good; it has a lot of important things that are prioritized well and said he is a go.
  • Shawn said he was happy with the granularity and the applicant delivered in spades. He reminded the members that he was on the fence because he thought there was an overlap of work with ZecWallet but he was glad they had the most recent conversation and it is now clear they are doing a lot of different things from ZecWallet.
  • ML agreed and shared an example that demonstrated its value. She added that the applicant wants to get confirmation ASAP because the people he has gotten are high in demand and he doesn’t want to lose them. She pointed out that this is an interesting consideration that extends beyond this grant.
  • Homes voiced that he is very supportive and believes that ZecWallet and Nighthawk Wallet are complimentary so it makes sense to fund.
  • Chris said he is also in favor.
  • ML said she will confirm.

Zcon2 Lite Panel topic brainstorm

  • Hudson volunteered to be the liaison for the session and said he would connect with everyone about submitting a session description and decide if they would like to create a presentation or structure it like a panel.

Debrief from ECC+ZF+ZOMG Sync-up

  • The members quickly debriefed the call they had with ECC & ZF last week. The general sentiment was that it went well.
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