We are very pleased to announce that Zcash Gitcoin Grants are now available and that a pilot $25k round is going live very soon.

Gitcoin Grants has become a major institution for funding the Ethereum ecosystem, delivering $3.7m in funding to hundreds of projects in a decentralized, community-driven, manner. Our hope is that Gitcoin Grants can deliver similar successful funding results to the Zcash ecosystem. For more on why Gitcoin Grants (powered by Quadratic Funding) could be a powerful funding solution for the Zcash ecosystem, click here.

The timeline for this campaign is as follows

• 10/27 – Gitcoin Grants Zcash Grant Creation is now soft-launched + matching started.
  • Create a grant here.
  • Fund grants here.
• 11/2 – Gitcoin Grants official launch.
• 11/17 – Public funding closes. Matching funds calculated.
• 11/18 – Total grant amounts announced.

Why Gitcoin Grants for Zcash could be so powerful [3 min]

Gitcoin Grants is powered by Quadratic Funding. With QF, a central party raises a matching campaign + matches contributions from the crowd. When allocating the matching funds, the breadth of contributors matters more than amount funded. This is super powerful because a $1 contribution can yield up to $150 in matching funds (if the grant is popular with a lot of people).

Our work in administering grants rounds has been an important part of scaling the Ethereum ecosystem because

1. It’s proven: We’ve done $3.7m worth of Gitcoin Grants already.
2. Every round creates a signal about what projects the community cares about.
3. It’s more decentralized than running an internal grants program.
4. It’s more scalable than running an internal grants program.
5. It serves as a marketing schelling point for people to make noise about, and support, each other’s work.

Here’s how to get started with Zcash Gitcoin Grants.

Get started today

Looking for funding? Create a grant [60 sec]

To create a Zcash Gitcoin Grant, click here ( https://gitcoin.co/grants/new?cb=zcash_testers ) and follow the instructions on screen. Make sure you select the Zcash category for your grant project.

Once you’ve got your grant created, share it with your friends, family, and community to solicit contributions from the crowd. As contributions come in from the crowd, your match estimate will automatically go up — If your grant becomes popular, each new $1 contribution could be rewarded with up to $100+ in matching. Voting ends on November 17, 2020. Once voting ends, final grant matching funds will be distributed to the most popular projects.

Want to fund a grant + have it matched? Fund a grant. [60 sec]

Anyone will be able to browse Zcash Gitcoin Grants on https://gitcoin.co/grants/ZCash.

To fund a grant, you need to add it to your cart. Once you add a grant to your cart, you will proceed to the checkout option. When you checkout,

1. you will need to use a t-address and fund each grant via Trust Wallet or ZEC Wallet.
2. Scan the QR code on the checkout page using your web wallet.
3. Broadcast the transaction
4. Insert your contributor address, so our system can find your transaction. (Your contributor address will not be shown anywhere on the grants UI. Please note, transparent addresses reveal transaction information publicly on the blockchain.)
5. Once your contribution is received, the matching estimate for this grant will go up!
6. The grant will receive funds immediately, and will receive the matching amounts at the end of the round.

SUCCESS! You’ve funded the Zcash ecosystem with quadratic funding.

Get started today:

• Looking to get started?
  • Create a grant here. Make sure you select the Zcash category for your grant project.
  • Browse Grants here.
• Have any questions/feedback? Leave a github ticket here.
• Looking to further understand Quadratic Funding? Checkout our web-based QF calculator.

Special Thanks to the funders of the matching pool!

Special thanks to Nathan Wilcox + Alchemy DC + the rest of the pilot $25k round funders for enabling this to happen.