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Should sum up the about page. 

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---
layout: page
title: Zcash Foundation Vision and Roadmap
excerpt: "Zcash Foundation Vision and Roadmap: For 2018 and Beyond"
---
*by Josh Cincinnati, Executive Director of the Zcash Foundation*
*Please note, this document has been updated after [Board approval from this meeting.](https://github.com/ZcashFoundation/ZcashFoundation/blob/master/board-documents/minutes/2018-06-22.md) Please view the [commit history to view the changes](https://github.com/ZcashFoundation/ZcashFoundation/commits/master/2018-VISION.md).* <!-- TODO Add move notice -->
2017 marked a year of formulation, of carefully testing waters, of measured growth for the Zcash Foundation. 2018 will be a year of rapid acceleration—in the Foundation’s scope, its goals, and its responsibility to the Zcash and broader cryptocurrency community.
My vision for the Foundation’s future is best summarized by the [Year in Review](https://z.cash.foundation//blog/year-in-review/) I published to the Foundation blog earlier in January:
*….the Foundation has a broad strategic mission that I hope to expand next year. To echo Peter’s sentiments, the Foundation is now a public charity* ***dedicated to building Internet payment and privacy infrastructure for the public good, and we need to execute on that vision...***
*Outside of direct Zcash development,* ***I’m also hopeful that the Foundation’s work can benefit other cryptocurrencies–whether by funding privacy research that can be applied to other public blockchains, or through others directly leveraging the Powers of Tau ceremony for their own applications.*** *The cryptocurrency community can be a divisive place, but I for one am optimistic at the possibility of broad collaboration with the cryptocurrency community, especially to further the cause of private, accessible finance for all...*
***...I hope the Foundation can become a conduit for the community and help architect and experiment with new methods of governance…*** *for software development, and our non-profit itself…*
More broadly, these summaries hint at three pillars for the Foundation to build upon:
**Community, Science, and Governance**
I’m going to cover each in turn, suggesting overall strategy and goals, and what we can do tactically this year (and beyond) to build these pillars.
## Community
Communities lie at the heart of every cryptocurrency project—and we have work to do to expand the Zcash and privacy research communities. We need to make **strategic investments to increase external contributors to the Zcash protocol, become a bridge to other cryptocurrencies...and spread our funds to catalyze decentralized development.**
Successful execution of this strategy will lead to a more resilient Zcash protocol, a better informed community, and more grassroots support for privacy in payments. So how do we get there?
*Tactical steps in 2018:*
- Zcon0!
- Add 2-3 more meetups post-Zcon
- Grow our Twitter, GitHub, and list-serv followings
- Coordinate with other cryptocurrency nonprofits to educate and inform
- Possibilities include Filecoin, Urbit, Ethereum, Tezos, and non-cryptocurrency nonprofits like Mozilla, EFF, FSF, and the Internet Archive
- Engage in smaller, more casual grants to the community—in addition to broader grant program—with the expectation that results would be open (in either process or source code)
- Possible themes for these grants: wallets, block explorer infrastructure, auxiliary privacy software, turnkey node hardware/software, zk-SNARK application integrations/educational outreach
- Make the Zcash Foundation website a resource hub for privacy tech
While community engagement is generally difficult to measure, there are a litany of potential metrics that can provide indirect measurement of success—some more objective than others.
*Tactical metrics in 2018:*
- Number of reachable Zcash nodes
- Increase number of shielded transactions
- Increase number of unique contributors Zcash discussion forums/chats
- Increase number of unique contributors to Zcash protocol itself and open source ecosystem
- Increase of mentions of Zcash in other cryptocurrency channels/the media
- Update website to include zk-SNARK and other educational resources
- Increase Zcash Foundation outreach/transparency through email lists/webcasts/office hours/etc.
- Successful Zcon0
- Full attendance (250-300 attendees)
- Live streaming (and recordings for) all conference presentations
- Positive sentiment from post-conference attendee survey
- Positive media sentiment from major outlets post-conference
I’d be happy to work with the Board to define these more explicitly.
## Science
Despite mind-bogglingly high market valuations for cryptocurrency, hard research is in short supply. The Zcash Foundation can change that. We can help **build an alternative implementation of Zcash (already happening thanks to the grant program), add new protocol features/suggestions via this implementation, build wallet implementations and libraries, audit and organize Zcash hard forks, and fund other ZK/privacy approaches.**
*Tactically:*
- Fund Rust implementation and reach feature parity with reference Zcash client, with an attention to detail on UX and multi-platform support
- BOLT/Layer 2 work
- Mobile wallet libraries for light-client development
- Mining software that actively encourages decentralization
- Continue grant program to fund research and science in zk-SNARKs and other privacy approaches
- Build community crowdfunding site for continuous project fundraising where the Foundation may periodically match funds
- Support other applications/dev groups leveraging Powers of Tau and privacy tech
- Zcon0!
*Tactical metrics:*
- Successful Overwinter/Sapling HF
- No downtime post-upgrades
- Major exchanges transitioned to HFs without incident, and quickly
- Fund security audits for both of the above
- Successful deployment of Rust-based Zcash client in the network
- Two successful grant programs of $125k each (Q2 and Q4)
- Fund Zcash protocol dev directly (as employee or contractor?)
- Fund other privacy-focused protocol devs (MimbleWimble, Monero, Ethereum?)
- Successful Zcon0 (as described above)
- Fund publishable research, resulting in 2-3 academic papers
## Governance
By far, the most challenging aspect of the Foundation’s strategy revolves around governance. Governance in any community with a diverse set of stakeholders is difficult, add the expectation of decentralization and a natural aversion of authority to most stakeholders (there’s a gradient to cypherpunks but most are not fans of authority) and you have a recipe for a nearly intractable problem.
But the Zcash Foundation can learn from others’ missteps and try new approaches—some enabled by features to-be-built into the protocol (e.g., zero knowledge proof voting based on ZEC stake), others might be novel social convention or unique non-profit bylaws.
This year we’d like **experiment with new governance models for the Foundation and protocol, build a roadmap for future governance, and explore voting/decision-making mechanisms for relevant stakeholders.**
*Tactically:*
- Build new rules and processes, decide on new experiments to collect stakeholder feedback
- Formalize process for auditing and approving hard forks.
- Elect new board members under rules enacted above
- Enact new bylaws
- Present the results via “constitutional convention” at Zcon0
In line with the challenge above, this pillar is by far the most abstract and difficult to measure improvement. The metrics below are guidelines but certainly not as objective as I’d like, but given the open-endedness and abstract nature of this challenge, finding measurability will be difficult.
*Tactical metrics:*
- Binary metric: has board changed, and bylaws changed?
- Community consensus on governance changes? How to define community consensus?
- Is community and leadership more engaged?
## Beneath the Pillars: What Lies at the Foundation’s Foundation
The three pillars above are meant to further our mission to build Internet payment and privacy infrastructure for the public good—but like any good stylobate, pillars need support too. Operationally, we have **a plan to spend ~$2.5mm this year** as detailed by the excellent budget put together by our Operations Director Antonie Hodge. It's worth highlighting a few budget asks:
**$250,000 of Grants:** To facilitate broader community support and further scientific research; split into Q2 and Q4 programs.
**$475,000 for Zcon0:** Hosting the first zero knowledge/privacy focused conference to benefit the Zcash and broader cryptocurrency ecosystem.
**$873,000 for wages expense:** The Foundation currently has three full time employees, and we're planning on hiring three full-time engineers as well. We are also planning on hiring a web contractor.
**$500,000 for research expense:** In addition to our full-time employees and community grant process, the Foundation would like to fund specific research contractors to build Foundation tooling and software (e.g. contributing to the Rust implementation and BOLT). We foresee that some of this funding will also go toward a more continuous community-driven grant process where the Foundation might match projects that reach community crowd-funding goals.
All of the budget is aligned to execute on the strategic goals outlined above.
## Financial Planning for the Foundation
Beyond the budget for this year, significant USD-based expenditures are anticipated beyond 2018. To de-risk the Foundation’s operational budget, we will be selling roughly 3-5% of the ZEC pledged to the Foundation—although it’s impossible to know the market price in advance, we anticipate it will net the Foundation anywhere between **$3 to 5mm of operational capital,** enough cushion for several years of lean operation if cryptocurrency markets collapse.
Though we are in early stages of broader financial planning, this much is clear: **We fully intend to keep the vast majority of our endowment in ZEC, while for the minority of the endowment we plan on diversifying to other cryptocurrencies that stand to take advantage of the Foundation’s work on furthering privacy technology.** This might mean a mix of bitcoin, ether, monero, as-yet-unlaunched grin, or others developed in the future that are beneficiaries of the Foundation’s work. There will be additional diversification to other traditional assets if our endowment grows, but the full scale of that plan is too early for commitment and beyond the scope of this document.
## Conclusion
...is that this is just the beginning. :) The Foundation has an ambitious vision for the year, and grander ambitions past 2018. There is much for us to do in the future beyond what’s outlined here—including greater stewardship of development around the Zcash protocol and broader advocacy for privacy in payments online. We anticipate that 2018 will prove to be a blueprint and rubric for greater acceleration of the Foundation’s work.

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## Contact
If you have any questions, please email contact@z.cash.foundation.
<!-- TODO Add more? -->

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excerpt: "The Zcash Foundation's purpose, mission, and team members." excerpt: "The Zcash Foundation's purpose, mission, and team members."
--- ---
The Zcash Foundation is a nonprofit organization registered in the state of Delaware. You can read our [detailed Mission here](https://github.com/ZcashFoundation/ZcashFoundation/blob/master/MISSION.md). Most of the Foundation is organized via GitHub, where you can find our [main repository](https://github.com/ZcashFoundation/ZcashFoundation/) and our [organization page](https://github.com/ZcashFoundation). The Zcash Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit, dedicated to building Internet payment and privacy infrastructure for the public good, primarily serving the users of the Zcash protocol and blockchain. Here, you can read about our mission statement, our values, our team, and who we are.
The Zcash Foundation Board of Directors comprises: You can read our [2018 Vision document here](2018-vision).
- [_Andrew Miller_](https://soc1024.com/) (Chair, President) • Assistant Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and an associate director of the Initiative for Cryptocurrencies and Contracts. **Table of Contents**
- [_Peter Van Valkenburgh_](http://www.petervv.com/) (Secretary) • Director of Research at Coin Center, a nonprofit organization focused on research, education, and advocacy on the intersection of policy and cryptocurrencies.
- [_Matthew Green_](https://isi.jhu.edu/~mgreen/) • Associate Professor of Computer Science at Johns Hopkins University, and one of the authors of the original Zerocash research paper.
- [_Amber Baldet_](http://www.amberbaldet.com/) • CEO of Clovyr, former JPMorgan Blockchain Program Lead, and co-creator of a zero-knowledge settlement layer for enterprise Ethereum.
- [_Ian Miers_](https://cs.jhu.edu/~imiers/) • Postdoc studying computer security and applied cryptography at Cornell Tech, and one of the creators of Zcash.
Former members: - [Our Mission](#our-mission)
- [Values](#values)
- [Our Team](#our-team)
- [Legal](#legal)
- [Contact](#contact)
- [_Naval Ravikant_](https://angel.co/naval) • Founder and CEO of AngelList, and one of the venture capital investors behind Zcash. {% include_relative mission.md %}
- [_Yan Zhu_](https://diracdeltas.github.io/) • Senior Software Engineer at Brave and security researcher. {% include_relative values.md %}
{% include_relative team.md %}
The Foundation's employees: {% include_relative legal.md %}
{% include_relative contact.md %}
- [_Josh Cincinnati_](https://twitter.com/acityinohio) • Executive Director of the Foundation, and an active member of the cryptocurrency community.
- [_Antonie Hodge_](https://twitter.com/antoniehodge) • Operations Director of the Zcash Foundation. Also serves as Operations Director at Coin Center.
- [_Sonya Mann_](https://twitter.com/sonyaellenmann) • Communications Manager for the Foundation and a former tech journalist.

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## Legal
The Zcash Foundation is a nonprofit organization registered in the state of Delaware.
<!-- TODO Add more? -->

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## Our Mission
Per our [501(c)3 application](IncorporationDocs/Zcash%20Foundation%201023.pdf), our mission is to be a public charity dedicated to building Internet payment and privacy infrastructure for the public good, primarily serving the users of the Zcash protocol and blockchain. Our activities span three main pillars:
1. Community
-----
We support the transition of Zcash into a large and healthy community with diverse stakeholders, held accountable to its userbase in the broadest sense. Our activities include sponsoring a conference for developers, miners, and other community members, to help jump start the conversation. We also plan to organize mailing lists that give voice to groups of stakeholders that might not otherwise have them.
Our own governance structure is designed especially with public transparency in mind (see our [VALUES file](VALUES.md)). So that can be effectively held accountable to the community we serve.
2. Protocol and Governance
-----
The Zcash protocol and the open network it powers is valuable, privacy-protecting Internet infrastructure; it should be developed and maintained by an open and diverse community of experts and enthusiasts, and it should remain always a tool for financial privacy available to the general public.
We will act as stewards of the Zcash protocol, providing leadership and supporting its continued maintenance and improvement.
We will offer responsive leadership when changes are necessary on short notice, such as a hard fork to resist an attack.
We will help coordinate on upgrades to the protocol. This can include organizing soft forks, organizing hard forks, and helping to conduct "ceremonies" such as parameter generation (should more of those be necessary).
3. Science
-----
Technical decisions are best supported by scientific activities, such as rigorous validation, empirical measurement, and continued innovation and refinement. We will therefore support these activities within our community. All cryptocurrencies, but especially Zcash, rely on cutting-edge contributions from the scientific research community, thus interaction with this community can also help the community stay healthy.
We will encourage this scientific research and educate the public regarding the substance and benefits of these scientific developments.

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## Our Team
The Zcash Foundation Board of Directors comprises:
- [_Andrew Miller_](https://soc1024.com/) (Chair, President) • Assistant Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and an associate director of the Initiative for Cryptocurrencies and Contracts.
- [_Peter Van Valkenburgh_](http://www.petervv.com/) (Secretary) • Director of Research at Coin Center, a nonprofit organization focused on research, education, and advocacy on the intersection of policy and cryptocurrencies.
- [_Matthew Green_](https://isi.jhu.edu/~mgreen/) • Associate Professor of Computer Science at Johns Hopkins University, and one of the authors of the original Zerocash research paper.
- [_Amber Baldet_](http://www.amberbaldet.com/) • CEO of Clovyr, former JPMorgan Blockchain Program Lead, and co-creator of a zero-knowledge settlement layer for enterprise Ethereum.
- [_Ian Miers_](https://cs.jhu.edu/~imiers/) • Postdoc studying computer security and applied cryptography at Cornell Tech, and one of the creators of Zcash.
Former members:
- [_Naval Ravikant_](https://angel.co/naval) • Founder and CEO of AngelList, and one of the venture capital investors behind Zcash.
- [_Yan Zhu_](https://diracdeltas.github.io/) • Senior Software Engineer at Brave and security researcher.
The Foundation's employees:
- [_Josh Cincinnati_](https://twitter.com/acityinohio) • Executive Director of the Foundation, and an active member of the cryptocurrency community.
- [_Antonie Hodge_](https://twitter.com/antoniehodge) • Operations Director of the Zcash Foundation. Also serves as Operations Director at Coin Center.
- [_Sonya Mann_](https://twitter.com/sonyaellenmann) • Communications Manager for the Foundation and a former tech journalist.

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## Values
Our values are:
- *Transparency.*
We are committed to being accountable to the community. Our policies, significant decisions and their rationale, and software shall all be publicly visible. We will strive to accurately and accessibly communicate the security properties of Zcash and of proposed changes.
- *Inclusivity.*
The Zcash ecosystem consists of many subcommunities, such as end-users, developers, miners, exchanges, traders and researchers, in many countries and cultures. They should all be given a voice within the Zcash community and the Foundation's deliberations.
- *Privacy.*
Privacy is an important human right, and the Foundation will work to enable users to control their own financial privacy.
- *Decentralization.*
We will strive to make the Zcash protocol and network decentralized, avoiding the placement of trust or granting of capabilities to any single party (assigned or emergent). Whenever current technology does not achieve perfect decentralization, we will seek to minimize, monitor and mitigate centralization.
- *Humility.*
The Foundation will not seek to place itself in a position of control over the Zcash community. The Foundation will not hold privileged information about Zcash transactions (beyond what is observable by anyone from the public blockchain or disclosures outside the blockchain), nor hold or create capabilities for acquiring such knowledge.
- *Cognizance.*
We strive to make well-informed and well-reasoned decisions, recognizing the vast body of knowledge offered by research and the experience of other cryptocurrencies.
- *Innovation.*
The Foundation shall support research and development to improve Zcash. It will strive to incorporate such progress into the Zcash protocol and software, while mindful of stability and security.
- *Cooperation with other cryptocurrencies.*
No "coin" is an island unto itself, and the success and acceptance of cryptocurrencies are intertwined. We will strive to collaborate with other cryptocurrencies' communities in areas of mutual interest.