The Coinholder-Directed Retroactive Grants Program funds completed work that has delivered verifiable value to the Zcash ecosystem.
It draws from the Coinholder-Controlled Fund (12% of block rewards + Deferred Dev Fund Lockbox seed), established by ZIP 1016 and activated in NU6.1 (November 2025).
The program runs quarterly until the 3rd halving (~2028). Funds are held in multisig by Key-Holder Organizations (e.g., Shielded Labs, FPF).
Grants are retroactive only - rewarding past contributions (e.g., development, integrations, community building). Prospective work should apply to Zcash Community Grants (ZCG, 8% of rewards).
Focus:
Completed, publicly verifiable work benefiting Zcash (privacy, adoption, tooling, security).
Criteria (coinholders evaluate):
- Demonstrated impact and delivered value.
- Alignment with Zcash values (privacy, decentralization).
- Transparent evidence (code, reports, metrics).
No restrictions:
Anyone (individuals, teams, organizations) can apply or be nominated.
Competing proposals:
Voted separately; highest ZEC support wins.
Veto possible:
By Key-Holders for legal issues or harm to users/community (rare, with rationale).
Prepare Proposal:
- Describe completed work, impact, evidence (links, deliverables).
- Specify requested amount (ZEC/USD equivalent) and justification.
- Include payout address and contact.
Submit:
- Post on Zcash Community Forum (forum.zcashcommunity.com) in the Grants section.
- Title: "[Retroactive Grant] - [Project Name]".
- Use clear markdown format.
Deadline:
- Quarterly; announced on forum/X (e.g., Q4 2025: October 12, 2025, 11:59 PM UTC).
- Late submissions: Resubmit next round or apply to ZCG.
Engage:
Respond to community questions during 30-day review.
Quarterly Cadence (e.g., Q4 2025, Q1 2026):
Submission Deadline:
Mid-quarter (announced).
30-Day Review:
Starts post-deadline; discuss/feedback in forum threads (summary thread often created).
Voting Period:
Follows review (e.g., ~1-2 weeks in November for Q4).
Results & Disbursement:
Soon after; approved grants paid per terms (KYC for >$50k).
Voting:
- Coinholders vote with ZEC holdings (no lockup; Orchard pool eligible).
- Mechanism: Decentralized polling (e.g., via voting authorities).
- **Approval**: at least 420,000 ZEC quorum + simple majority yes.
- Independent votes; coins reusable across proposals.
- Public, transparent results.
Check the Zcash Community Forum Grants Section . Process may evolve with community feedback.