Welcoming J.W. Verret & Marta Belcher to the Zcash Foundation Board

We are pleased to announce that J.W. Verret and Marta Belcher have joined the board of the Zcash Foundation. 

J.W. and Marta bring a wealth of experience and expertise, which will benefit the Zcash Foundation as it continues to grow and evolve, and help the Foundation better serve the Zcash community. 

J.W. Verret is an Associate Professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University, where he teaches banking, securities, and corporation law. Jay previously spent two years as Chief Economist and Senior Counsel for the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services, and he served on the SEC’s Investor Advisory Committee. 

Marta Belcher is President and Chair of the Filecoin Foundation as well as the Filecoin Foundation for the Decentralized Web. She is also General Counsel and Head of Policy at Protocol Labs, and special counsel to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

J.W. and Marta’s arrival coincides with Matt Green and Ian Miers’ departure from the board. 

Matt and Ian are two of the Seven Scientists who authored the Zerocash paper which described the cryptographic design of what we now call Zcash, and have continued to be actively involved in its ongoing development. 

It was Matt Green who persuaded Zooko Wilcox to found a company to engineer and deliver Zcash. Matt subsequently became a founding member of the Zcash Foundation, and has served on its board for nearly six years. He is stepping down from the board but will continue to serve on the Foundation’s Technical Advisory Board. 

Ian Miers was elected to the Zcash Foundation board in 2018 by recommendation of the Zcash Community Advisory Panel. His term on the board expires this year, and he opted not to seek re-election. However, like Matt, Ian will continue to serve on the Foundation’s Technical Advisory Board. 

On behalf of the board, and the Zcash community as a whole, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to Matt and Ian, for the guidance, advice and feedback they have provided during their time on the board; for their historical contributions that were instrumental in the creation of Zcash and its growth, development and evolution to where it is today; and for their ongoing contributions as members of the Technical Advisory Board. 

— Jack Gavigan, Executive Director