Over the past two weeks, ZecHub continued publishing ecosystem content while expanding ZEC We hosted a Space with Unstoppable Wallet, while our conversation with Mad Scientist was scheduled for the following week. Bounties, updating its Wiki and community tools, and exploring new ideas around automation, formal verification, and shielded NFTs.
Zec Bounties
Development continued across ZEC Bounties, with several UX, documentation, and moderation improvements.
A new Teams feature is being introduced, with teams already created for Zcash, Zcash Español, and Zcash Turkey. The Zcash team will open up new opportunities for contributors to create content for the main Zcash account, including videos, graphics, and potentially memes.
We also introduced a badge system based on participation and completed tasks. Specialty badges can recognize contributions such as running a node or participating in hackathons, while more active contributors can unlock additional task suggestions. Badge visibility can be adjusted in profile settings, giving users control over what they make public.
These changes should help reduce spam and low-quality task suggestions while giving established contributors more opportunities to participate.
Documentation has also been expanded with clearer guidance for bounty creators, including suggested bounty amounts and guidance for adjustments when ZEC experiences significant price movements.
We’re also working toward a more specialized review process. Development, design, writing, and research submissions could be routed to contributors with experience in each area, supported by Discord automation.
Discord & DAO Automation
Work is underway to connect more of our workflows with Discord.
Vito has been working on automation for ZEC Bounties, including a bot that can help route activity through dedicated Discord channels. A similar workflow has been built for the ZecHub DAO to help keep members updated when new governance proposals are submitted.
The goal is to reduce manual coordination and make it easier to organize submissions, suggestions, and reviews as activity grows.
Website & Wiki
Several improvements were made across our website and Wiki.
The ZecHub treasury was updated to reflect ongoing projects, while Community Projects now includes search and category filters. New or expanded Wiki content covers topics including the Z3 stack, Zakura, Project Tachyon, and post-quantum security in Zcash.
A working Zcash testnet faucet is now available as well.
Ankita also created a three-part Formal Verification research series covering what formal verification is, the Orchard bug, and Ironwood. The series provides useful background for understanding the growing role of formal verification across the Zcash ecosystem.
Content & Community
We continued publishing ecosystem digests, educational updates, Zcash Shielded News editions, Beyond Payments episodes, and the Zcash From First Principles series.
A new ZecHub Spotlight series also launched, highlighting projects and contributors across the ecosystem.
Recent technical content included a video on Zakura, content covering Zero Indexer, and a guide by ShayShay based on firsthand experience installing and running Zero Indexer.
We also participated in Proof of Privacy, where we shared ways people can get involved in the Zcash ecosystem. Additional educational sessions were held with Zcash Ghana covering Zcash history, architecture, and node operation.
We hosted a Space with Unstoppable Wallet, while our conversation with Mad Scientist was scheduled for the following week.
Exploring Shielded NFTs
We’ve been exploring ideas around shielded NFTs and a potential collaboration with Mad Scientist, a project in the Cosmos ecosystem interested in supporting Zcash education.
The discussion focused heavily on privacy. Orb highlighted the distinction between keeping NFT ownership private and making the NFT itself private, as well as the privacy risks of linking public identities or whitelists to shielded addresses.
Encrypted Zcash memos were discussed as one possible way to track provenance and ownership events, while earlier experiments such as Xatnet and private P2P storage through Iroh offered other ideas for building privacy-preserving experiences around Zcash.
Orb is also experimenting with ZK generative art on Zcash, drawing inspiration from projects such as Terraforms.
One important consideration going forward is how experiments built today could eventually transition to Zcash Shielded Assets (ZSAs) if they become available.
What’s Next
Following the recent NU7 polls, we’re also looking to focus upcoming educational content on NU7 itself and what it means for Zcash.
Finally, preparations are beginning for Zcash’s 10th anniversary, with Zcon7 also approaching.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpdiOjxvLt4