At present marks a bittersweet milestone for the Zcash Basis as we bid farewell to Jack Gavigan (aka Dodger), our Government Director, who stepped down after 4 years of devoted service. Jack’s tenure has been nothing in need of transformative, and his management has left an indelible mark on the Zcash ecosystem.
Jack started his profession working with startups in the course of the dot-com increase of the late ‘90s. He subsequently spent over a decade working in monetary expertise with main establishments like Morgan Stanley, the place he additionally spent a yr as a dealer.
Previous to his position on the Basis, Jack served as COO and Head of Regulatory Relations on the Electrical Coin Firm (ECC), the place he helped launch Zcash and performed a pivotal position in fostering its progress. His work at ECC included collaborating with JP Morgan on integrating privacy-preserving expertise into their Quorum blockchain platform, showcasing his capability to bridge conventional finance and cutting-edge cryptographic options.Â
Jack additionally labored extensively with regulators and policymakers to teach them on cryptocurrencies and privacy-preserving applied sciences. His efforts had been instrumental in serving to Zcash acquire regulatory acceptance, corresponding to its itemizing on Gemini Change after approval from the New York Division of Monetary Companies. Moreover, he helped shape international cryptocurrency rules via his participation in conferences with organizations like FATF, advocating for balanced approaches that help innovation whereas addressing compliance considerations.
Jack joined the Zcash Basis in early 2021, bringing with him this wealth of expertise in conventional finance coupled with a deep understanding of Zcash’s mission.Â
On the Zcash Basis, Jack’s management drove a number of main milestones, most notably spearheading the event of Zebra, which is a Rust-based implementation of the Zcash protocol. Zebra supplies a strong various to zcashd and lays a stable basis for future improvements in privacy-preserving expertise. Below his steering, the Basis additionally supported initiatives like FROST (Versatile Spherical-Optimized Schnorr Threshold Signatures), which boosts cryptographic usability for wallets and signing teams.
Jack’s strategic imaginative and prescient prolonged past technical developments. He championed neighborhood engagement via the annual Zcon conferences, coordinated by the Zcash Basis, and sought advisory enter by working Zcash Group Advisory Panel (ZCAP) polls, to make sure that neighborhood voices formed important selections. His efforts led to the adoption of ZIP 1015, which decentralized ecosystem funding by transitioning grants administration to the Cayman Islands-based Monetary Privateness Basis (FPF).
On behalf of the Zcash Basis and the broader ecosystem, we prolong our heartfelt gratitude to Jack for his years of service. Thanks in your unwavering dedication to advancing monetary privateness. Your legacy will encourage us as we proceed constructing.
