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Zcash co-founder proposes ending grants funding, citing $125 million treasury
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Zcash co-founder Sean Bowe proposed ending automatic funding for Zcash Community Grants and redirecting its 8% share of newly created ZEC to a reserve for future mining rewards. The draft proposal was published late Monday. Bowe argued the grants treasury is large enough to fund years without new inflows.
The change would require altering Zcashâs network rules. The committee would keep existing assets and continue awarding grants from them. The redirected allocation would enter the Network Sustainability Mechanism and remain there for the rest of the grants streamâs term.
Bowe estimates ZCG holds about $125 million after outstanding commitments, using an illustrative ZEC price of $1,300. Its dashboard showed about 91,453 ZEC and $8.8 million, with $2.4 million committed to grantees. At the target network pace, ZCG receives about 144 ZEC daily, worth roughly $68 million a year.
The proposal would leave a separate program that receives 12% of newly created ZEC unchanged. That programâs grants are subject to quarterly coinholder votes. ZCGâs five-member committee is elected by a community advisory panel and selects grants without a separate coinholder vote.
Bowe said the program was never designed to handle its current funding level. He argued that continuing to add funds to ZCGâs separate custody and governance arrangements creates risk. The proposal arrives amid scrutiny of a ZCG-funded outreach effort at an adult-industry convention.
The Financial Privacy Foundation, which administers ZCGâs funds, reported over $1.5 million in first-quarter program expenses. Annualized, that is $6 million, less than a tenth of the yearly inflow. Even at $500 per ZEC, Bowe estimates the treasury would cover about five years at $10 million annually.
The ZECsy team requested $550,000 for adult-industry events, crypto conferences and workshops. The committee approved startup funding and the first nine milestones, totaling about $461,500. The August approval was split.
