Zcash Community Grants

Zcash Community Grants is funded from the Zcash Dev Fund (established under ZIP-1014, extended by ZIP-1015 and ZIP-1016), with a budget of roughly 100,000 ZEC through 2028, worth approximately $11M at a $110 ZEC price at time of review. The program funds independent teams: wallets, SDKs, core protocol development, interoperability tooling, dApps, infrastructure and education for the Zcash ecosystem, described on the program's own page as "not exhaustive," meaning a well-argued proposal outside the listed categories can still be considered.

Observed approvals in a single reviewed fortnight (July 2026) ranged from $5,000 for an education pilot through $88,000 for offensive security work, with events funded at $6,870 and $8,140 and a $30,000 grant for Cypherpunk Week presence. In the same window, the committee declined a $135,000 hardware wallet proposal, a $22,000 FROST SDK proposal, and an $18,500 transport library proposal, which tells you the typical clearing zone sits well under $90,000 and that scrutiny rises sharply above roughly $50,000, where KYC also becomes mandatory.

Separately, a forum thread proposes ZCG funding for a dedicated Zcash track at Colosseum's Crypto World's Fair, with roughly $250,000 discussed as of early September 2026, but this was not confirmed as approved at review time. The Zcash Open Development Lab, a separately funded $25M seed initiative announced in March 2026, is a development shop rather than a grant program and should not be confused with ZCG.

Key stats:

• Roughly 100,000 ZEC (about $11M) budgeted through 2028 via the Dev Fund
• Observed July 2026 approvals: $5,000 to $88,000
• Same window's declines: $135,000, $22,000, $18,500, all above the typical clearing zone
• KYC required above roughly $50,000; a five-person elected committee votes 3-of-5 bi-weekly

Individual committee members rotate by election cycle; check current meeting minutes on the forum for who is sitting on the committee now.