As a protocol, Zcash is governed by the Zcash Improvement Proposal process.
The ZIP process provides an open venue and structure for collectively evaluating changes to Zcash.
Anyone can submit a draft ZIP. Draft ZIPs are debated by the community at large, then accepted or rejected by the ZIP editors. Currently there are two ZIP editors — Daira Hopwood represents the Electric Coin Company and Deirdre Connolly represents the Zcash Foundation.
Decisions from the ZIP process are written into the Zcash specification, as well as the software that runs the network. The changes are “ratified” on-chain when the majority of the network adopts the upgrade and doesn’t break consensus.
A bi-lateral agreement transferring responsibility, via a donation, for trademark registration, protection and enforcement from the Electric Coin Company to the Foundation.
The Zcash Community created the Dev Fund in late 2020 as a means of funding ongoing development of the Zcash protocol by the Zcash Foundation (5% of the block reward), the Electric Coin Company (7%), and the Zcash Community Grants program (8%).
The Canopy upgrade established the Dev Fund, and implemented several security improvements.
Enables support for the Orchard shielded protocol and Unified Addresses.
The original Zcash logo. Current logo available here.
The Zcash Foundation’s first governance process coincided with our inaugural conference in 2018. It was announced in April, further explained in June, and concluded later that month.
General measures and board nominations were submitted and discussed on GitHub, where they are available to review.
In July, the Foundation released a blog post detailing the governance results and our planned responses. Notably, Amber Baldet and Ian Miers were instated as new members of the Board of Directors.
The Zcash community forum is an open forum for Zcash users and enthusiasts, hosted by the Zcash Foundation. Forum members should strive to be kind, respectful, and interesting. Ideally, your presence in the community should improve the experience for everyone.
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