Zcon 7
Zcon7 will be an in-person gathering taking place October 27–29, 2026 in Cancún, Mexico.
Zcon is Zcash Foundation’s annual conference focused on Zcash and privacy-preserving technologies. It brings together developers, researchers, policy thinkers, builders, and community members from around the world to collaborate, learn, and shape the future of financial privacy.
To secure your spot:
- Submit your application — Fill out the Zcon7 application form. The conference ticket is completely free, but please note that submitting the form is an application to attend, not a confirmed registration.
- Wait for ZF’s review — Because event capacity is limited, ZF will begin reviewing applications in July. Please hold off on booking any flights until you receive an official acceptance email.
- Book your room through the official ZF link — If accepted, your acceptance email will include an exclusive group reservation link for the all-inclusive resort. You must use this specific link. Per resort regulations, guests who book directly with the hotel or through third-party vendors will not receive a conference wristband and will be unable to participate in the conference or any associated events.
- Plan your stay — Accepted attendees are responsible for their own accommodation costs and are required to stay at the Zcon7 venue resort. Room rates are $312.88 USD/night for single occupancy and $357.62 USD/night for double occupancy. We recommend a four-night stay from October 26th through October 30th. The resort offers two childcare options: The Kids Club and individualized babysitting services. View details including hours, fees, ages and requirements here.
Follow us on X, Bluesky, or the Zcash forum for program announcements.
Zcon7 · Cancún, Mexico
Event Schedule
All times in Cancún local time · All sessions, speakers, and event details are subject to change without notice.
Remarks
Zcon7 Welcome 15 min
Kick off Zcon7 with a welcome from Zcash Foundation Executive Director, Alex Bornstein. Alex will open the event with an overview of the conference, share his perspective on the current state of the Zcash ecosystem, and set the stage for three days of collaboration, discussion, and building together.
Panel
To Be Confirmed 1 hr
We’re working hard behind the scenes to build an exceptional session, and we know it will be well worth the wait! Details and speaker announcements are coming soon, so stay tuned.
Break
20 min
Take 20 minutes to continue the conversation sparked by the panel. Use this extended break to connect with fellow attendees, exchange perspectives, challenge ideas, and hear viewpoints from across the ecosystem before the next session begins.
Talk
Fight for the Future: Fight for Privacy 45 min
Privacy is under increasing pressure from expanding surveillance, censorship, and centralized control. Join Fight for the Future Director Evan Greer for a conversation on why privacy is essential to protecting free expression, organizing, and human rights in the digital age. She’ll explore the biggest threats facing online privacy today, the role of privacy-preserving technologies like Zcash, and how individuals and communities can help build a more open and resilient future.
Panel
Cypherpunk Manifesto 50 min
Frank Braun · Maxime Desalle · Za · Moderated by Andrew Miller
More than three decades after its publication, the Cypherpunk Manifesto continues to shape the vision behind privacy-preserving technologies and decentralized systems. Join moderator Andrew Miller (Zcash Foundation Board Chair), along with panelists Frank Braun (zSTASH), Maxime Desalle (Winklevoss Capital), and Za (Zingo Labs), as they explore the manifesto’s core principles, discuss how its ideas have evolved, and examine what it means to be a cypherpunk in today’s technological and political landscape.
Break
Lunch 1 hr
Enjoy lunch at the resort’s buffet or any other open dining venue. Relax, connect with fellow attendees, and recharge before the afternoon sessions.
Panel
Defining Zcash’s Future: Vision, Narrative, and Value 1 hr
Kenbak · Dan Sequeira · Michae2xl · Andrew Arnott · Moderated by Neal Jayu
Is Zcash’s core mission to enable everyday digital payments, serve as a privacy-preserving store of value, or fulfill an even broader role? How should we talk about Zcash as the ecosystem evolves?
In this interactive panel Kenbak, Dan Sequeira, Michae2xl and Andrew Arnott and Neal Jayu will explore the strategic visions shaping Zcash’s future, examining the technical, economic, and philosophical tradeoffs behind different priorities. The discussion will also focus on how those choices influence the way we communicate Zcash’s value to developers, users, policymakers, and the broader public.
Panel
Safety, Survival, and Sovereignty: Financial Privacy in Practice 50 min
Mylo Bennett · Violet Rollergirl · Evan Greer · Scott Onder · Moderated by Alex Bornstein
Privacy is not a luxury-it is often a necessity. Join moderator Alex Bornstein, along with panelists Mylo Bennett, Violet Rollergirl, Evan Greer, and Scott Onder for a discussion on how financial privacy empowers marginalized communities. Drawing on lived experiences, the panel will explore barriers such as financial exclusion, the unique challenges faced by sex workers, physical safety concerns, and the importance of designing technologies that serve people whose privacy needs are often overlooked.
Breakout Discussion
Ecosystem Barriers 1 hr 30 min
Join a small-group discussion to identify and examine the biggest barriers facing the Zcash ecosystem. You will find which discussion group you are in on the back of your nametag. Once everyone has gathered with their assigned group, you’ll move to a more comforable area of the resport to begin the conversation.
Together, you’ll identify and discuss the technical, social, regulatory, governance, and operational barriers limiting Zcash’s growth and long-term success. The goal is to uncover the most important challenges, understand their root causes, and identify practical steps that could have the greatest impact.
Break
1 hr 50 min
Take advantage of this two-hour break to relax and recharge before the Welcome Reception & Dinner at 7:30 PM. Enjoy the beach or pool, freshen up, explore the resort, or continue conversations with fellow attendees at your own pace.
Event
Welcome Reception & Dinner 2 hrs
Unwind after the first day of Zcon7 with an evening of great food, conversation, and stunning ocean views. Join fellow attendees to continue the day’s discussions, reconnect with friends, make new connections, and enjoy a relaxed evening together as the conference gets underway.
+1s are welcome, if indicated attendance during registration.
Debate
Do You Support ZSAs? 1 hr
Arya · Tom Howard · Moderated by Daniel Benarroch
Do you support ZSAs? Join Tom Howard, CEO of Zcash Labs, and Arya, Engineer at Zcash Foundation, as they debate the opportunities, tradeoffs, and long-term implications of implementing Zcash Shielded Assets on Mainnet. The debate will be moderated by Daniel Benarroch, Founder of Inversed Tech.
Break
20 min
Take 20 minutes to continue the conversation sparked by the debate. Use this extended break to connect with fellow attendees, exchange perspectives, challenge ideas, and hear viewpoints from across the ecosystem before the next session begins.
Panel
How Do We Ship Faster While Maintaining Security? 45 min
Josh Swihart · DC · Shielded Nate · Moderated by Anna Kaplan
How can the Zcash ecosystem accelerate development while maintaining the high security standards users depend on? Join Josh Swihart (ZODL), Shielded Nate (Shielded Labs), and DC (Zcash Foundation) for a discussion on balancing speed, security, and sustainability as Zcash continues to evolve. Moderated by Anna Kaplan (Least Authority).
Workshop
AI in Practice: A Knowledge Sharing Workshop 45 min
Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing how we build, collaborate, and solve problems. Join 1337bytes (ZCG grantee) and Gustavo (Zcash Foundation) for an interactive workshop exploring practical AI tools and workflows for software development. Learn how AI can accelerate research, benchmarking, UI design, and end-to-end product development, while sharing your own experiences and techniques with your table. Time permitting, we’ll even build a product live during the session.
Break
Lunch 1 hr
Enjoy lunch at the resort’s buffet or any other open dining venue. Relax, connect with fellow attendees, and recharge before the afternoon sessions.
Panel
Technical Security Threats 1 hr
Daira-Emma · Taylor Hornby · Zooko · Dev Ojha · Arya · Moderated by Andrew Miller
In this panel, security engineers discuss the most significant technical threats facing Zcash today and in the years ahead - how the ecosystem identifies and prioritizes risk, how it trades security off against usability and shipping speed, and where more investment is needed. Attendees will leave with a clear picture of where Zcash's defenses stand and how contributors can help strengthen them.
Workshop
To Be Confirmed 1 hr
We’re working hard behind the scenes to build an exceptional session, and we know it will be well worth the wait! Details and speaker announcements are coming soon, so stay tuned.
Breakout Discussion
The Next 10 Years of Zcash 1 hr 30 min
Rejoin your small discussion group from Day 1 to celebrate Zcash’s 10th anniversary by looking ahead. Together, you’ll explore what success could look like in 2036, what Zcash needs to become, and what the world needs to look like to make that future possible. This session is an opportunity for ambitious, honest discussion about the opportunities, challenges, and priorities for the decade ahead.
Break
1 hr 40 min
Take some time to unwind before the Zcash 10th Birthday Celebration Dinner. Whether you want to relax by the pool, enjoy the beach, catch up with friends, or recharge before the evening festivities, this break is yours to enjoy.
Event
Zcash's Birthday Bash
Celebrate Zcash’s 10th birthday with an evening of great food, conversation, and community overlooking the ocean. Join fellow attendees as we reflect on a decade of innovation, privacy, and progress, celebrate the people who have shaped the ecosystem, and toast to the next 10 years of Zcash.
Debate
Should the Dev Fund End in 2028? 1 hr
Maxime Desalle · Kris Nuttycombe · Moderated by Paul Brigner
Should the Zcash Development Fund end in 2028? Join Maxime Desalle (Winklevoss Capital) and Kris Nuttycombe (ZODL) as they debate the future of long-term funding for the Zcash ecosystem. The discussion will explore the tradeoffs between ending the Dev Fund in 2028 with ZIP 2016 ends, extending ecosystem funding, and the potential impact of each path on innovation, decentralization, and Zcash’s future. Moderated by Paul Brigner (ZODL/ZCG/PGPZ).
Break
20 min
Take 20 minutes to continue the conversation sparked by the debate. Use this extended break to connect with fellow attendees, exchange perspectives, challenge ideas, and hear viewpoints from across the ecosystem before the next session begins.
Panel
The New Dev Sandbox Panel: Onboarding the Next 1,000 Zcash Builders 45 min
Dev Ojha · Sam H. Smith · Panelist TBC · Moderated by Shielded Mark
How do we make it easier for developers to build on Zcash? Join Dev Ojha (Valar Group) and Sam Smith (Shielded Labs) for a discussion on reducing barriers to entry, improving the developer experience, and creating pathways for new contributors to join the ecosystem. Moderated by Shielded Mark (Shielded Labs), this panel will explore the tools, documentation, community support, and incentives needed to grow the next generation of Zcash builders.
Closing
Closing Address
Closing remarks reflecting on Zcon7 and looking ahead to what’s next for the Zcash community.
Breakout Discussion
Takeaways 1 hr
End Zcon7 where many of the conference’s best conversations began - back with your small discussion group. Over food and conversation, reflect on the past three days, share your key takeaways, and discuss the ideas and actions you’ll carry forward after the conference. It’s a final opportunity to learn from one another, strengthen connections, and leave inspired for what’s next.
Event
Shielded Pool Party
Wrap up Zcon7 with an evening of relaxed conversation at the pool and beach. This informal gathering is an opportunity to continue discussions, reconnect with old friends, meet new people, and enjoy the beautiful surroundings - no agenda, no presentations, just good conversation and community.
Speakers
Click a speaker to read their bio. Click again to close it.
1337bytes
1337bytes is a Software Engineer building open-source apps and libraries. Mainly focused on research around design systems, backend scaling, privacy and security. Developer of Elemental Zcash and maintainer of the Zcash BTCPayServer plugin.
Adrian Brink
Anoma
Adrian Brink is co-founder of Anoma with Awa Sun Yin and Christopher Goes. Previously, he worked at Tendermint (Cosmos) as the 3rd core developer and Head of Partnerships, and at Web3 Foundation as a technologist.
Alex Bornstein
Zcash Foundation
Alex Bornstein is the Executive Director of the Zcash Foundation, a nonprofit stewarding open source, privacy-preserving financial infrastructure. Alex leads the Foundation’s Shielded Aid Initiative, bringing together NGOs, technologists, and donors to design humanitarian digital cash and voucher systems that protect people by default while preserving accountability through selective, auditable transparency. With a substantial background in nonprofit leadership and operations, Alex approaches privacy as a duty of care - essential to compliance, safety, and dignity in digital aid delivery. His work focuses on building systems that can withstand real-world challenges: limited connectivity, regulatory scrutiny, and the growing risks of surveillance and data exposure. At the intersection of humanitarian aid and zero-knowledge cryptography, Alex advocates for privacy as protection rather than secrecy, emphasizing that maintaining control over one’s own data is essential to human security. His goal: to make privacy the simplest choice for organizations and the people they serve.
Alfredo Garcia
Zcash Foundation
Core contributor to the Zcash ecosystem, focused on Rust, distributed systems, and privacy-preserving technology.
Andrew Arnott
Principal architect at Microsoft, Zcash developer and enthusiast
Andrew Miller
Zcash Foundation Board/UIUC
Board member of Zcash Foundation, Adjunct Associate Professor at UIUC, doing startups in decentralized applications
Anna Kaplan
Least Authority
Anna is a mathematician and cryptographer, with experience working at Zcash Foundation and IBM Research, and a senior cryptography analyst at Least Authority. She is interested in advancements in cryptography and is passionate about making cryptography and privacy more accessible through writing, speaking, and community engagement.
Arya
Zcash Foundation
Provocateur
Daira-Emma
ZODL / Jacaranda Software
Daira-Emma - old-time cypherpunk with opinions, now heading Research and Assurance at ZODL
Dan Sequeira
ZODL
Business development @ Zodl
Daniel Benarroch
Inversed
Daniel Benarroch is the co-founder and CEO of Inversed, where he builds secure infrastructure for AI agents in production. He has spent over a decade in applied cryptography, with a focus on zero-knowledge proofs: he co-founded ZKProof.org, the open standardization effort for ZK cryptography, and has worked on privacy and proving systems across the ecosystem - including cryptographic work for the Zcash Foundation, Worldcoin, and Scroll. A long-time member of the Zcash community, Daniel's work bridges rigorous cryptographic engineering and real-world deployment, a thread that now runs through his work on trust and security for autonomous AI systems.
DC
Zcash Foundation
DC is a technical advisor to the Zcash Foundation. Prior to working with the Zcash Foundation, he was COO at ECC and held various technical, operational and security leadership roles in various web2 enterprises.
Dev Ojha
Valargroup
I work on scaling Zcash, via solving wallet perf and privacy problems, and the Zakura client
Evan Greer
Fight for the Future
Evan Greer is a trans activist, writer, and musician based in Boston. She's the director of the viral digital rights organization Fight for the Future, known for helping organize the largest online protests in human history against online censorship and surveillance. More recent campaigns involved getting more than 40 of the world's largest music festivals to back away from using facial recognition at their events, and defeating dangerous age verification legislation in Massachusetts.Evan writes regularly about the intersection of technology, human rights, and LGBTQ+ issues for outlets like the Washington Post, Wired, Boston Globe, Time, and CNN. As a musician, she has toured internationally and shared stages with artists like Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine, Talib Kweli, Against Me, Billy Bragg, and Pete Seeger.
Frank Braun
zSTASH
Cypherpunk who believes that, for a free society, the ability to communicate and transact privately is essential. Building zSTASH, enabling people to have sovereignty over their wealth in an age of pervasive AI-assisted surveillance.
Gustavo
Zcash Foundation
I'm a generalist who loves building ecosystems by building systems
Jason
ZecHub
ZecHub Core Contributor
Jason McGee
Shielded Labs
Jason McGee is the Founder and Executive Director of Shielded Labs, a core Zcash support organization. He previously served for four years as a committee member of Zcash Community Grants. Over the years, he has been involved in a variety of governance, funding, and community initiatives within the Zcash ecosystem.
Josh Swihart
ZODL
Josh is the Founder and CEO of the Zcash Open Development Lab (ZODL), the team behind the Zodl wallet. He was previously the CEO and SVP at the Electric Coin Company, a longtime leader across privacy technology, software, and digital commerce. Since founding ZODL in 2024, he has raised over $25 million from leading crypto investors (expanding the Zcash shielded pool by over 400% and facilitating more than $600 million in ZEC swaps)
Kenbak
Builder of CipherScan and CipherPay. Making Zcash data accessible and private payments available to everyone.
Kris Nuttycombe
ZODL
Kris is a core protocol and wallet backend developer at Zcash Open Development Lab. He has been working full-time on Zcash since 2020, but has been more loosely involved with the project since before launch. He believes that Zcash is a critical tool for breaking down systems of authoritarian control.
Marek
Zcash Foundation
Engineer
Maxime Desalle
Winklevoss Capital
Investing at Winklevoss Capital
Michae2xl
Zcash Brazil
Zcash Brazil
Mylo Bennett
Mylo Bennett is a technologist and grassroots organizer with a background spanning defense intelligence and community advocacy. Mylo has been representing Zcash at many mainstream crypto events over the past year, supported by ZCG grants.
Neal Jayu
ZODL
Zodl Support & Community Manager
Pacu
ZODL
Developer Relations and Integrations Engineer at ZODL
Paul Brigner
ZODL, ZCG, & PGPZ
Paul Brigner is Chief Policy & Regulatory Officer at Zcash Open Development Lab (Zodl), member of the Zcash Community Grants Committee, founder and organizer of PGP* (Pretty Good Policy) for Crypto, and Adjunct Faculty of FinTech at Georgetown University. He is a technology policy executive, former software developer, attorney, and U.S. Army veteran with experience spanning software engineering, internet governance, cryptocurrency policy, financial privacy, and public advocacy. His career has included senior roles at Verizon, Internet Society, the Motion Picture Association, the Chamber of Digital Commerce, Coinbase Institute, Electric Coin Co., Bootstrap, and Zodl. Through PGP* and the DC Privacy Summit, he convenes policymakers, builders, researchers, advocates, and industry leaders to advance discussion of crypto policy, privacy-preserving technologies, digital rights, and open financial systems. His work focuses on Zcash, financial privacy, and the future of digital cash.
Pili Guerra
Zcash Foundation
Head of Engineering at the Zcash Foundation
Sam H. Smith
Shielded Labs
Systems Engineer, Background in Compilers and Baremetal OS development, now working on Crosslink for ZCash.
Scott Onder
Zcash Foundation Board/Mercy Corps Ventures
Scott is Chief Investment & Innovation Officer at Mercy Corps and Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Mercy Corps Ventures, where he makes venture investments in crypto solutions and leads the Crypto for Good Fund, which funds and pilots real-world crypto use cases in emerging and frontier markets. He is also an angel investor and advisor to emerging crypto protocols and applications. Scott serves on the Board of Directors of the Zcash Foundation because he believes open source, decentralized, privacy-preserving technologies are essential digital public infrastructure for advancing financial inclusion, protecting civil liberties, strengthening humanitarian aid, and expanding economic opportunity globally.
Shielded Mark
Shielded Labs
Engineering Manager, Shielded Labs | Art Estate Manager, Jon Sarkin | Former VP of Engineering, Equilibrium Labs
Shielded Nate
Shielded Labs
Nate is a Zcash dev focused on long term safety, resilience, and sustainability.
Taylor Hornby
Zcash Foundation Board/Shielded Labs
Taylor is a Zcash Foundation board member and has been a long time security engineer for the Zcash project, currently working with Shielded Labs.
Tom Howard
Came for the Bitcoin, stayed for the Zcash.
Violet Rollergirl
a trans courtesan and paid companion based in New York City whose economic life exists almost exclusively outside of traditional financial institutions. She has a curious background that intermingled sex work, sex education, technology, and event planning. In addition to publishing high-quality educational content, she runs an independent consultancy that trains workers primarily in the adult industry to adopt self-sovereign financial tools through privacy-preserving cryptocurrencies like Zcash, earning her the title of "your favorite hooker's favorite hacker."
Za
Zingo Labs
I'm excited to help money be better for us!
Zooko
Shielded Labs
Zooko is one of the founders of Zcash and loves computers and kittens.
