Zcash Foundation

The Zcash Foundation is a non-profit organization launched in 2017 by the Electric Coin Company (ECC), which created zcash, a privacy-focused cryptocurrency. The organization aims to focus on financial privacy, support the infrastructure of the Zcash protocol and blockchain. Its board of directors includes Andrew Miller, Peter Van Valkenburgh, Matthew Green, Amber Baldet and Ian Miers.

Zooko Wilcox founded the ECC in 2016, which launched and supported the development of zcash until it gave the reins to the Zcash Foundation in 2017. The Zcash foundation aims to build internet payment and privacy infrastructure for the blockchain community through transparency and inclusivity, while mainly focusing on the Zcash protocol and blockchain. It has also offered grants to encourage people to develop on the platform.

The Zcash Foundation is funded by the zcash blockchain, which will receive 1.44% of the Founders’ Reward until November 2021. The Founders’ Reward is funding allocated to zcash’s founders. It is made up of 10% of zcash’s monetary base over the first four years after its launch. At Zcash Foundation’s inception, the Zcash Foundation was endowed with 273,000 zcash, then worth roughly $13 million. Wilcox pledged to donate half of his Founders’ Reward towards that fund.