Ensuring that the Zcash protocol and the open network it powers remain decentralized and diverse.
Program Areas:
Community: The Zcash Foundation supports the expansion of Zcash into a large and healthy community with diverse stakeholders, held accountable to its user-base in the broadest sense.
Science: Technical decisions are best supported by scientific activities, such as rigorous validation, empirical measurement, and continued innovation and refinement. The Foundation strives to support these activities within our community.
Protocol and Governance: The Zcash protocol and the open network it powers is valuable, privacy-protecting internet infrastructure; it should be developed and maintained by an open and diverse community of experts and enthusiasts, and it should always remain a tool for financial privacy available to the general public. The Zcash Foundation acts as a steward of the Zcash protocol, supporting its continued maintenance and improvement.
Our values:
Transparency
Complete clarity and transparency are something that the Zcash Foundation strives to drive across the board. From our monthly newsletters and our quarterly reports, to our community-facing policies and significant decisions, the Foundation strives to hold itself accountable to the Zcash community and we aim to do so without ambiguity. Where there might be issues or concerns plaguing the Zcash community, whether major or minor, the Foundation aims to ensure that these concerns, whether individual or concerning organizational policies, processes or decisions, are addressed promptly and candidly.
Inclusivity
The Zcash ecosystem consists of end-users, engineers, miners, researchers and more. We believe that they should all be given a voice within the Zcash community and the Foundation’s deliberations. Diversity at the Foundation doesn’t stop at the community level. We’ve created a dynamic state of operating in which diversity is leveraged internally to create a fair, healthy, and high-performing organization. We believe that an inclusive environment ensures equitable access to opportunities for all, and it enables individuals to feel safe, respected, engaged, motivated, and valued, for who they are and for their contributions towards the Foundation’s goals.
Humility
Humility for us at the Foundation means acknowledging our own strengths and skills, while learning from others and seeking out new knowledge. Having such a culture makes it easier to rely on each other for new ideas, feedback, or help whenever needed. We believe that mutual kindness, integrity, and respect are necessary for productive collaboration. We debate ideas productively (assuming good faith), we are open to appropriate feedback, and we maintain intellectual honesty without hostility.
Our Values
Transparency
Complete clarity and transparency are something that the Zcash Foundation strives to drive across the board. From our monthly newsletters and our quarterly reports, to our community-facing policies and significant decisions, the Foundation strives to hold itself accountable to the Zcash community and we aim to do so without ambiguity. Where there might be issues or concerns plaguing the Zcash community, whether major or minor, the Foundation aims to ensure that these concerns, whether individual or concerning organizational policies, processes or decisions, are addressed promptly and candidly.
Inclusivity
The Zcash ecosystem consists of end-users, engineers, miners, researchers and more. We believe that they should all be given a voice within the Zcash community and the Foundation’s deliberations. Diversity at the Foundation doesn’t stop at the community level. We’ve created a dynamic state of operating in which diversity is leveraged internally to create a fair, healthy, and high-performing organization. We believe that an inclusive environment ensures equitable access to opportunities for all, and it enables individuals to feel safe, respected, engaged, motivated, and valued, for who they are and for their contributions towards the Foundation’s goals.
Humility
Humility for us at the Foundation means acknowledging our own strengths and skills, while learning from others and seeking out new knowledge. Having such a culture makes it easier to rely on each other for new ideas, feedback, or help whenever needed. We believe that mutual kindness, integrity, and respect are necessary for productive collaboration. We debate ideas productively (assuming good faith), we are open to appropriate feedback, and we maintain intellectual honesty without hostility.
Our Goals:
Privacy
The essence of privacy is being able to choose what is or isn’t shared with others. To help protect that freedom of choice, the Foundation will not seek or hold privileged information beyond what is observable by anyone from public blockchains or equivalent outside disclosures. We will never knowingly facilitate or assist in surveillance, through a cryptographic “backdoor” or any other method.
Decentralization
The Zcash Foundation aims to encourage decentralization of the protocols and networks that we support, avoiding the placement of trust or granting of capabilities to any single party (assigned or emergent). The Foundation will not seek to place itself in a position of control over the Zcash community. Whenever current technology does not achieve perfect decentralization, we will seek to minimize, monitor, and mitigate centralization.
Innovation
The Foundation shall support research and development to improve Zcash and other financial privacy infrastructure. It will strive to incorporate such progress into the Zcash protocol and software, while mindful of stability and security.
Cooperation
No “coin” is an island unto itself, and the success and adoption of cryptocurrencies are intertwined. The Zcash Foundation strives to collaborate with other privacy and cryptocurrency communities in areas of mutual interest.