Zcash Trademark Talks Were About More Than a Logo

Electric Coin Company, the firm led by zcash creator Zooko Wilcox, officially shared the zcash trademark with the Zcash Foundation on Wednesday.

"No party has independent authority to declare that a specific chain of Zcash can actually be called Zcash. There must be agreement from both parties, and neither party can unilaterally override the will of the community."

Wilcox told CoinDesk last week the zcash trademark negotiations were emotionally painful.

"As a person, I am devoted to zcash and can never stop working for zcash and all that it means for humanity," he said.

Along with other co-founders, Wilcox donated to the independent Zcash Foundation, as a type of checks-and-balances entity apart from the for-profit startup ECC. Several academically minded zcash co-founders, such as Andrew Miller, became foundation board members.

Even with the best intentions, this trademark struggle was, according to Zcash Foundation director Josh Cincinnati, part of the political growing pains associated with decentralization.

While many people in the crypto industry still turn to ethereum co-founders Vitalik Buterin and Joseph Lubin for funding and cultural guidance, the zcash community is publicly signaling it wants to create a different governance structure.

The trouble is, where will all these new candidates and voters come from? According to Zcash Foundation communications manager Sonya Mann, roughly 64 community members participated in electing the foundation's board in 2018, which took considerable outreach and work on the nonprofit's part.

Electric Capital co-founder Avichal Garg told CoinDesk the zcash community is looking to other blockchains - like bitcoin, ethereum and even decred - for lessons on governance.

"In order to get third-party investment, you need to give these parties a voice. The zcash community is trying to figure out the best way to do that."