Zug, Switzerland – A strategic alliance between Namada, a L1 blockchain for multichain privacy, and Zcash has been proposed by Christopher Goes, Co-Founder of Namada. The arrangement will see the communities and ecosystems of both networks, Zcash and Namada, collaborate in research and development in multiple areas, including cross-chain bridging, proof-of-stake mechanism design, and shielded multi-signature accounts. Namada will also explore retroactive and proactive funding mechanisms for the development of the Zcash ecosystem.

As part of this alliance, the Anoma Foundation (steward of the Anoma and Namada ecosystems), Heliax (core developer of Namada), and other entities in the Namada ecosystem plan to collaborate with organisations in the Zcash ecosystem including the Zcash Foundation (ZF), Electric Coin Company (ECC), Zcash Community Grants (ZCG), Zcash Media, ZecHub, Nighthawk Apps, QEDIT, Shielded Labs, and more.

Namada builds upon technology pioneered by Zcash and would like to give credit where credit is due. As part of this alliance, the Namada community will explore retroactive and proactive funding mechanisms for Zcash ecosystem development, including a “Namada <3 Zcash” grants pool and potential future contribution into the Zcash Sustainability Fund or other protocol-level funding mechanism adopted by the Zcash community. These contributions are designed to help align the interests of both ecosystems and encourage continued collaboration in the long-term.

Namada is the first protocol that brings shared zero-knowledge privacy to users of the multichain. Namada leverages an upgraded version of the world-class ZK technology initially developed by the ECC and pioneered by Zcash. Namada’s cryptography enables any asset to be transacted privately, including both fungible and non-fungible tokens. In Namada, all assets will share one anonymity set, thereby providing the best privacy possible for the multichain user.

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Christopher Goes of the Anoma Foundation said: “Namada couldn’t have come into existence without the technical contributions and socio-economic programme of the Zcash community, and we would like to give material thanks back to the Zcash community in addition to verbal credit. We’re looking forward to many future collaborations between both ecosystems.”

Zooko Wilcox of Zcash development team ECC said: “The Namada community and the Zcash community believe that everyone has a right to individual and collective freedom. I’m super excited that the Namada folks are supporting Zcash’s decentralization and sustainability, and I can’t wait to see the impact of this initiative.”

Jack Gavigan of the Zcash Foundation said: "We welcome Namada's interest in working with the Zcash community. It's great to see a project that leverages technology pioneered by Zcash looking to give back to the Zcash ecosystem. With QEDIT's work to implement Zcash Shielded Assets (ZSA) nearly complete, the benefits of building bridges to other networks, and collaborating with other ecosystems are clear. We look forward to supporting Namada in launching a grants program to fund projects that benefit both Namada and Zcash."

Amber O'Hearn of Zcash Community Grants (ZCG) member said: “The ZCG is happy to see this kind of initiative to contribute back to the ecosystem in a variety of ways that could mutually benefit both projects, and we're excited to see what develops.”

Aditya Bharadwaj of Nighthawk Apps said: “Building bridges and unleashing the potential of ZEC has been the dream for many Zcashers. The skill set of Namada and Heliax core developers and cryptographers are a great match to the upcoming developments on the Zcash network. Namada planning to contribute tokens to the Zcash Posterity Fund and a possible airdrop to the ZEC holders, foreshows the synergy between the two ecosystems.”

Jason McGee of Shielded Labs, a new Swiss-based Zcash organization, said: “Shielded Labs is currently exploring developing and supporting the Zcash Sustainability Fund. A potential future contribution to the Fund would be a terrific way for Namada to support the long-term financial sustainability of the Zcash network. This is a very exciting strategic partnership between two ecosystems with similar values, and I look forward to seeing the innovative developments that come from future collaborative efforts.”

Jason Rogers of ZecHub said: ZecHub is a community driven education initiative centred around Zcash & the growing ecosystem of privacy preserving technologies. Namada leads the way with significant contributions to the public good. The Trustless cross-chain transfer protocol: ZCLAIM holds the privacy guarantees of Zcash at its core, unlocking the full potential of Shielded ZEC to be used securely in DeFi applications such as supporting DAO’s like ZecHub. It’s a shining example of the values Zcash and Namada share. For this reason we hope to consider you our friends, we’re excited to learn more & try it out!

David Boyer of Zcash Media said: The vision for collaboration between the Namada and Zcash communities is as ambitious as it is generous. Filled with win-win thinking and design ideas, it could be a major boon to both camps that unlocks additional functionality for Zcash while establishing Namada as a versatile privacy hub in the crypto ecosystem. Given today's incentives for seemingly endless data extraction, this alliance between like-minded communities is a model for showing another world is possible.

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About Zcash Zcash is a fair and open currency designed to protect people’s freedom. Zcash is supported by a decentralised ecosystem, including multiple node implementations, diverse individuals and organisations, and world-class scientists, engineers, and technical educators all around the world.

Learn more: https://z.cash/