Hi Zeeps,
Let’s Zashi!
ECC delivered its first production mobile wallet this week, and she’s beautiful.
Since we launched on Thursday, there have been over 580 downloads to iPhones and a few iPads. People worldwide are downloading and using it, with about 40% in the US. Russian users account for about 9% of app store downloads, followed by S. Korea, which accounts for 5%.
Zashi is a wallet.
Zashi is a fun, easy, and powerful way to use Zcash. We’ll aggressively add more power. 
While our initial target is existing Zcash users, we want to make it easy to onboard new Zcashers.
Zashi is a platform.
We’re building a new system outside but adjacent to the old system. Zashi represents freedom, and we’ll use it to deliver freedom tech. Some of what we’ll deliver is Zcash-specific, and some will build on other projects and capabilities. It’ll always be useful standalone, but for those who want to interact with the legacy world, we’re planning to integrate those features too.
Zashi is a noun and a verb.
Zashi me. I’ll Zashi you.
And it is fun to say. Right anon? Let’s Zashi!
We published a blog this week that describes our vision for the product and the thinking behind the brand and name. If you missed it, check out the promotional video on the Zashi page. It’ll make you smile, I promise.
Zashi is open source.
Want to check out the code? Want to fork create your own version? All you!
It’s all for you, Zeeps. If you need support or have ideas on improving it, please join our Discord and follow Zashi on Twitter.
What’s next for Zashi?
Improvements: The team has already been pushing bug fixes and minor improvements. Check back for frequent updates.
Planning: Our Q2/3 planning week is the second week in April. We’ll prioritize our work for the next major release, which will include R&D, regulatory consultation, and potential partnerships. What’s on the table? I’m glad you asked. We’ll be digging into possibilities for integration with a payments provider for gift card purchases, Flexa integration for purchases at a host of retailers, Ledger integration, and liberated payments.
Android: We’re still in beta for our Android release, targeting the end of April.
The people that brought Zashi to life.
I often shoot from the hip, but I always shoot straight. I’ll do that again here. We have been working on this thing for a long freakn’ time. It was way overdue. A few things happened that made this possible, this quarter. We committed to the wallet as the flagship product for ECC in January, which we will use to deliver a fantastic user experience for Zcash users. And secondly, at Zeboot, the team committed to ship v1 this quarter. As you’ll read below, it was no small task. I’m incredibly proud of how we came together and worked our collective tails off to get this over the line. It often was not fun, and everyone sacrificed.
We did it together and with heart, relentless determination, and passion. We’ve entered into a new era.
On the backend, @nuttycom and @str4d have been working exceptionally long hours and through weekends to get everything supported, including faster sync, dynamic fees, and Orchard support. @daira has been a fantastic leader, balancing the need to ship quickly and ensuring we deliver securely and with quality.
@Lukas has been on fire developing the iOS app, adding features like background sync in his not-so-spare time, and discovering all kinds of things we needed to get right. Like the others, he has been working non-stop. Lucas built everything you touch in the app. @Honza was also a huge help, reviewing and supporting while also working to get the Android app built.
@andrea has led the charge from commitment to release, including planning and coordinating as our product manager. She’s an exceptional leader and cat herder. She’s also now handling support. Keep in mind that she just started with us a couple of months ago, and for the first month, she took it upon herself to work two jobs. She was finishing up her previous gig AND leading this effort.
@adjychris and Richard were behind the brand and design. Richard painstakingly designed every screen and interaction, questioning and simplifying to create a clean and easy user experience. And Chris did everything from writing comms to the wording of things in the app. I think they did an amazing job. Also, @yasserisa was behind the scenes, ensuring our environments and infrastructure were humming.
Others, including former ECCers Nick, Pacu, Zooko, and others, were involved at the beginning. Their fingerprints are all over it. And @earthrise heroically stepped in to provide the audit we needed.
I also need to thank all the beta testers who provided fantastic feedback and support throughout. We have an amazing community.
To all of you. Thank you. You are all monsters. I love you all. I’m incredibly proud of what we accomplished together.
But wait, there’s more.
Chris and Richard also created a refreshed brand and website for ECC. It also launched this week. It distills our work and captures the human electricity we’re tapping into and the freedom we’re unlocking. It’s electric! The site also includes our ever-evolving roadmap so that you can see where we’re headed.
Did you catch this week’s PGP event? Lizzy Fallon, the legislative director for House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, kicked it off. @paulbrigner is an absolute pro and brings so much credibility to the project in Washington. If you missed it, you can catch up on Twitter.
I met with Jonathan at Qedit again to discuss the ZSA timeline and path ahead. As zcashd will be deprecated, ZSAs will only be supported in the Zcash Foundation’s zebrad. One significant issue is how to replace the wallet currently used in zcashd. The foundation has stated that it does not intend to create a CLI wallet to bring parity. And so we’re faced with a dilemma. Who will build and support a new CLI wallet that can be packaged with zebrad? I don’t have the answer today. Perhaps there is someone in the community willing to take that up. If so, we’re here to support you! We’ll be working through that question in the coming weeks.
Some of the team also found time to attend Real World Crypto. The presentations are available on the RWC site if you are interested.
Another absolute banger of a week.
Be free and Zashi on!
Onward.
