Greetings Zcash Zeal! 
This weeks ZOMG meeting was productive, we were able to get several grants reviewed and we are excited that we now have so many to review! 
This week we approved two projects that we feel will benefit the Zcash ecosystem and will be following up with more questions for the other open proposals.
The two that were approved are:
Congratulations! 
ZOMG Zoom Meeting: March 2, 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:
- New proposals
- Communication document
Notes:
Shawn updated the committee that Horizontal Systems has withdrawn their ZEC<>renZec grant proposal and plans to post a new grant in the future.
Cold Wallet
Hudson pointed out that the team Implemented a full node in Bitcoin.
Chris commented that he has no basis for whether they can do it or not. He appreciated the need for cold wallet storage but he did not feel like the proposal was credible based on the timeline given of 2 days. Hudson said that $200/hr for this level of work is not crazy. Chris reiterated that he is skeptical. Shawn added that the work may have already been done and it could be a unique piece of software that would likely not be used.
Holmes thought that the comment in the thread was convincing theoretically but shared the concern that there might not be enough people that want this. He suggested they do due diligence to ask people and wait to make a final funding decision.
ML asked if the committee wants to fund if the applicants are found to be credible. Hudson stated that it might be nice if there is a security audit to go with it.
Holmes suggested creating a default response for applicants ZOMG is not familiar with. He suggested if they don’t know them, they could ask the community, keep the applicant engaged, and let them show us what we need.
Hudson outlined questions and concerns that he would like to post on the forum. Holmes commented that their project developer links look like a real project.
Hudson said that they could reply that they trust people that ZOMG have worked with but there needs to be due diligence since they are not familiar with them. Shawn agreed and added that it is especially important for something that is set up for long term credibility and should include a security audit.
Hudson volunteered to respond.
Educational Video Series in Hindi for Indian market
ML_sudo checked out the applicant’s website.
ML_sudo & Hudson commented that they thought it was too good to be true.
Chris looked at Youtube channel and deemed it to be legitimate. He continued to warn ZOMG that most proposals will be marketing.
Hudson suggested that they can reply publicly that they are not setting precedent when ZOMG chooses marketing grants.
Shawn added that it is more important if some of the work becomes redundant and multiple markets overlap themselves.
ML_sudo asked if they want to have oversight on content by someone like Josh at ECC. Hudson replied that maybe they can offer it. ML_sudo volunteered to ask Josh if they would be willing to review the content. Shawn voiced that he is in favor of approving and asking the applicant if they can coordinate with @joshs at ECC to make sure it is accurate. Holmes agreed that accuracy and review are important.
ML_sudo volunteered to respond on the forum and connect with the applicant with Josh at ECC.
Multisig Wallet for Zcash
Hudson told the group that the applicant did algorand and IDE.
Chris voiced that he thought they looked credible, that their rate is great, and multisig will be used more than cold wallets.
ML_sudo asked if anyone knew anyone at Algorand and Holmes offered to ask someone at USV who has worked with Algorand.
Chris voted to approve but to ask them to speak with a reference. He suggested that they pay half now and half upon completion.
Holmes was curious how it fits into the lighwallet stack and added that it would be good if this work was available to Zecwallet. Holmes volunteered to respond and follow up asking for a reference and if it would be compatible with other platforms.
Holmes also voiced that he would like a security audit included in a following grant application or baked into this application.
ML_sudo asked if they should advise them to speak to ECC/ZF and Holmes agreed that it is important they work closely with ZF and believe in work they are doing. Hudson volunteered to leave the link to the R& D Discord channel in the forum thread. Shawn added that there are libraries under security audit and they want to make sure their project is compatible with ZF projects.
ZOMG agreed that they should wait until they get answers to the questions and put it in the “approve, pending diligence” category.
Zcash Block Explorer
ML_sudo shared that she was not sure if they really needed it or if the rate is fair.
Hudson commented that explorers today have analytics so was unsure what was special about this explorer. Holmes & ML_sudo agreed that they need to know how it is differentiated from the others.
Shawn brought up that they posted on the forums asking for feature request viewing keys and that it may be useful to have an explorer to log in anonymously and use a viewing key.
ML_sudo asked about maintenance and if they should just go to Blockchair. Hudson replied that the maintenance cost should be low and the feature costs are more costly. He thought it would be a smaller bleed over a long period of time but it would be good to ask them.
Chris stated that they already funded nighthawk and there are block explorers. He added that it is not mission critical or so he would want to get more info.
Holmes suggested they reach out to NIghthawk to ask what is necessary to make their wallet awesome.
ML commented that their rates are much higher so it might set a high watermark.
Shawn agreed with Chris that it is nice to have but other work is more mission critical.
Hudson suggested they not decline but ask questions.
Chris advocated for pursuing an offline convo to talk about goals and pipeline of work and Holmes volunteered to reach out to them since he’s on Signal with them.
Ziggurat: the Zcash Network Stability Framework
Hudson shared that he really liked what they said on the arborist call because they talked about testing and their project would take a huge load off.
Chris stated that he knows the team (but is not an investor, so there isn’t a conflict of interest) and can attest that their work is quality and he is favor of this talent. He added that he needs more info to make sure it is meeting Zcash’s needs.
Hudson shared that ECC and ZF gave good feedback.
Holmes said that core security work testing to the way nodes respond seems like the thing that we want.
Chris suggested that they approve, contingent on the team getting in touch with the right people at Zcash. Hudson agreed.
Holmes asked about milestones and Chris confirmed that they have milestones.
All members agreed to approve and that Chris will approve and ask if they can get in touch with ECC and ZF on the Zcash R & D server to optimally perform work.
Communication document
All members commented on the communication document they had created asynchronously.
A summary of the document is as follows:
- A very clear framework for awarding grants that should cover
a) ZOMG high level strategy, i.e. “which segments we would like to allocate into” and
b) “grading criteria” at the grant application level - A clear end-state (goals) at the end of the 4 year grant timeframe + 2021 goals
- A statement on what to expect from ZOMG in terms of communication
- Proactively seeking applicants: straw man proposals for projects ZOMG would like to see
Shawn agreed to clue the committee into things that are important posted on the forums and didn’t think anyone had abused ZOMG tag. Holmes suggested limiting their response to the ZOMG tag to grant section.
Chris reminded the committee of his viewpoint that members should get compensated more because ZOMG committee work is more than 5 hrs/week (note: Chris has elected not to receive the nominal compensation). Holmes added that members are in an almost volunteer role. Shawn commented that he wasn’t sure if they needed to spell out why they are not responding.
Summary of Action Items:
Respond to Cold wallet Grant asking questions (Hudson)
Approve & respond to Educational Video Series in Hindi for Indian market grant asking them to get in touch with ECC (ML_sudo)
Respond to Multisig Wallet for Zcash grant asking questions (Holmes)
Respond to the Zcash Block Explorer grant asking questions (Holmes)
Approve and respond to Ziggurat: the Zcash Network Stability Framework asking them to get in touch with ZF/ECC (Chris)