Winklevoss twins donate $1.2M in ZEC to back independent Zcash development
The Winklevoss twins donated ZEC worth approximately $1.16 million to Shielded Labs to support independent Zcash protocol development.Summary
Shielded Labs, an independent Zcash development organization featuring Zcash founder Zooko Wilcox, announced it received a donation of 3,221 ZEC, valued at about $1.16 million, from Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss. This funding is earmarked for long-term protocol initiatives like the Network Sustainability Mechanism, Crosslink, and Dynamic Fees, aimed at enhancing Zcash's security and scalability.
Shielded Labs operates separately from Zcash's block rewards and development fund, relying on donations for its protocol-level research. The Winklevoss twins stated that a robust Zcash ecosystem requires multiple independent protocol contributors, viewing Shielded Labs as crucial to this effort, emphasizing their long-standing support for Zcash due to its strong privacy features.
The donation arrives amid recent restructuring and tension within the Zcash ecosystem, including developers leaving the primary developer, Electric Coin Company, and forming new entities. This funding is seen by Shielded Labs as a vote of confidence in Zcash's privacy mission and decentralized development model, especially following the Zcash Foundation's announcement that the SEC probe into the organization has closed.
(Source：The Block)