You are reading the last article of the Z|ECC chronicles. Here you can find the previous update.
Day Three: you cannot build a new economic system on a transparent ledger
Thursday was an ECC-only day. This was by design like Zeboot in February was. On day Zero ECC gathered and decided what they would present the to rest of the summit attendees the following two days and then they’d regroup and reflect on the feedback received from the community members. For me, the day was mostly free until the arborist call in the afternoon and then some of us were heading to EDGE’s offices for a meetup sponsored by EDGE and Bitrefill called “Building the Future of Privacy”.
I’ve had so many tater tots the night before that I needed to go for a walk before I could actually take some food.
For those who don’t know what those tater tots are, according to wikipedia “Tater tots, also known as baby taters or potato gems are grated potatoes formed into small cylinders and deep-fried, often served as a side dish.”. Advice: Procede with care.
Since hadn’t been able to see much of the city, I dragged myself out of bed and started heading out to San Diego’s Little Italy which was the closest “touristy” attraction I had on a walking distance. I found Little Italy to be somewhat very little, a few blocks and it was over.
Fortunately, I found this little gem. A café owned by an Italian guy which offered gelatto and some pastries along with very strong expressos.
I was walking back to the hotel to attend the Arborist Call in the next few hours when I got a message from Paul from EDGE.
He invited me to meet part of his team in charge of implementing the Zcash-react-native wrapper of the ECC SDKs. I also got to see the backstage of what they were cooking for the evening.
EDGE offices are located in a beautiful location where a small team works with their windows open breathing the sea breeze and admiring breath-taking sunsets in the pacific ocean. I consider myself a remote-first kind of person, but if I had to choose an office to go to, I would definitely pick EDGE’s.
I took the trolley back to the hotel and rushed to get to the Arborist Call. Kris and Daira-Emma also connected beside myself and we chilled for a bit after the call finished.
Sun comes down at the edge of the world.
EDGE is not only multi-coin privacy-minded wallet and exchange. They also invest a lot in public relations and crypto advocacy. More than half of their office is dedicated to social areas and a stage that lets them host meet-ups and record podcasts. After meeting a few folks and onboarding a few new users, the panel started. I’ll leave the YouTube link here. Unfortunately, the funny slides Chris Tomeo had prepared can’t be appreciated there :(
You can’t build a new economy on a transparent public ledger.
After meeting a few folks and onboarding a few new users the panel started. I’ll leave the YouTube link here. Unfortunately, the funny slides Chris Tomeo had prepared can’t be appreciated there :(
Kris Nuttycombe was on a roll. The phrase that gives this entry its title is a quote of his.
You can’t build a new economy on a transparent public ledger. - Nuttycom
If I really wanted to build an economy, with Bitcoin I couldn’t do it. - Nuttycom
Tatyana is always interesting to listen to. She’s talked to so many Zcashers that her input is that she has developed a unique and intimate vision of the Zcash ecosystem.
Bad actors have been doing fine just with Fiat they don’t need Zcash. The rest of us need Zcash - Tatyana
Minute 30, a tricky question is thrown from the audience to the panel, with a salutation from one of the seven scientists that created Zcash. Josh recollects how repeatedly three letter agencies from the US government had asked the Zcash team to compromise the tech they’ve refused.
Minute 40: Andrea presents Zashi and its strategy and approach to a Zcash wallet.
Minute 57: Bogdan presents a ZkVoting startup using ZkProofs to anonymize citizens’ passports data and still being able to vote or prove your identity without revealing anything that will reveal your identity. https://freedomtool.org/#/
Epilogue
Z | ECC comes to an end, but the conversations continue. Its effects on the ecosystem were instantly visible. Unlike other crypto summits I’ve attended to, this one was so focused and action-driven that was both replenishing and exhausting. Yes, I’m aware that those words are antonyms but I can’t describe it better.
I hope these chronicles were able to bring the momentum to everyone in the community. Zcash is a small but vibrant community of developers and privacy advocates that has a lot growth potential. One of the things we should all focus on it so expand it while retaining its essence. To achieve that, it is my belief that the Zcash community has to overcome the “Survivorship Bias” and work on developer and user friendly tools that are professional, rigorous and secure, while still being welcoming, stratified on expertise, FUN TO USE and enjoyable. It can seem contradictory to talk about fun and joy while we recognize that privacy is in danger and under attack. It is also my belief that nothing great can be achieved with sadness and sorrow. Let’s be the change we want to see in the (Zcash) world.
Onward.
