Zcash, what future?
Turbulent days for Zcash, caught between ZCON3-the annual conference organized by the Zcash Foundation, comparable to Ethereum’s DevCon, and the events that have engulfed the Tornado Cash project, which is also focused on the ability to make anonymous money transfers.
ZCASH: The Project
Unlike other blockchains, Zcash decided long ago to allocate 20% of new coin issuances, resulting from Proof of Work activity, to support three independent but each project-related entities: 8% to the Zcash Community Grant, 7% to the Electric Coin Company, and 5% to the Zcash Foundation.
During the final session of ZCON3, a question formulated by a user on the official forum sparked a heated discussion between members of the Zcash Foundation and other key members of the project, most notably founder Zooko Wilcox who was present on stage.
“When asked whether there was a desire to give greater authority to ZEC-holders in decision-making, the answers of the Zcash Foundation members were as lapidary as they were unexpected:”
“We are not here to advocate the value of holders,” “I think coin holders are one of the last categories we should be concerned as far as decision making is concerned”.
Zooko‘s own attempt to defend the investors’ position was to no avail, retorting that the value of the coin has a great bearing on its adoption, not to mention the fact that the ZC Foundation primarily finds sustenance in the 5% of the coins issued annually (about 5 million USD at today’s value).
The fact of the matter is that the flame has been sparked on social media against the Foundation‘s claims, with major holders determined to get rid of the investment:
I just watched the Zcon video on the issue of Zcash governance.
I decided to listen to @valkenburgh's advice and I just sold all my Zec I accumulated over the last 4 years.
I will happily rebuy all of it, once the new/forked consensus defunds the ZF.
— 🛡️🦓🛡️ (@beczka2006) August 12, 2022
All this, in a context in which the tools created to defend the anonymity of transactions seem to be in the crosshairs of US regulators, so much so that an intervention posted in the Zcash Community Forum proposes to create a clone of the entire structure in a country less prone to authoritarian interventions.
Zcash faces an important sliding door: seize the threats of the moment and turn them into opportunities, or stand still with the risk of succumbing.
