Grant application

{ZEX for Zcash: CEX Speed, DEX Security, Simple and Global Access to ZEC.}

Evaluation snapshot

Request at a glance

Applicant: ZEX
Requested: $75,000
Status: Declined
Review context: Forum discussion linked1 committee record linked

FPF source evidence

Milestone and disbursement ledger

Read-only milestone and disbursement fields normalized from the FPF grants ledger.

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No normalized FPF milestone or disbursement rows are linked to this application yet. The application and its other source evidence remain available below.

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Workflow signals

📋 Grant Application👀 Ready For ZCG Review❌ Grant Declined

Latest committee record

Declined2/16/2026

Data quality and provenanceSource matching, linked-record coverage, and reconciliation diagnostics

Source coverage

Operational context for tracing how this canonical record was assembled.

Source stateGitHub + Sheet

GitHub-Sheet match100%

Primary forum1

Supporting forum0

GitHub labels3

Decision notes1

GitHub workflow labels

3 labels captured as structured grant attributes

📋 Grant Application

Category: Intake
Status: Grant Application
Milestone: -
Observed: 2/16/2026

Open GitHub issue

👀 Ready For ZCG Review

Category: Review
Status: Ready For Zcg Review
Milestone: -
Observed: 2/16/2026

Open GitHub issue

❌ Grant Declined

Category: Decision
Status: Declined
Milestone: -
Observed: 2/16/2026

Open GitHub issue

Decision history

1 meeting note linked

Declined2/16/2026

ZEX for Zcash

Rejected

ZEX proposes to integrate Zcash into its high-performance, order-book decentralized exchange to give ZEC holders fast, private, and fully self-custodial trading comparable to centralized exchanges while preserving on-chain security. Built as a gas-free, MPC-secured DEX capable of 150,000+ transactions per second and protected by the pooled economic security of EigenLayer, ZEX combines email/web2 onboarding, unified liquidity, and chain abstraction to enable seamless trading between Zcash and major ecosystems including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and Tron. The integration will deliver native shielded deposits and withdrawals, audited infrastructure, and frictionless cross-chain access without wrappers or custodial risk, targeting $3M liquidity and 25,000 users in 2026H1. Overall, the project aims to remove technical and liquidity barriers that isolate Zcash today, expanding adoption and total value locked by providing a secure, privacy-preserving, and CEX-level user experience within a trustless DeFi environment. Applicant is requesting $75,000. Hanh: It’s a reject for me because we have better solutions and this one is more centralized than decentralized and the technology doesn’t seem to be up and working yet. Gguy: This problem and solution didn’t resonated with me as something that is necessary for ZCG to fund. I reject. Artkor: In essence, this is a request to fund an early-stage exchange startup without demonstrated demand or a functioning market, and I don’t find that persuasive as a case for funding. I reject. Zerodartz: I also don’t see much benefits so I reject. Decentralistdan: Reject as well, we have strong solutions at the moment that we have supported and this one doesn’t feel like the right time or the right application to fund.

Confidence: 100%
Match method: Direct Source Url
Minutes: Zcash Community Grants Meeting Minutes 2/16/26

Committee notes

Hanh: It’s a reject for me because we have better solutions and this one is more centralized than decentralized and the technology doesn’t seem to be up and working yet.

Gguy: This problem and solution didn’t resonated with me as something that is necessary for ZCG to fund. I reject.

Artkor: In essence, this is a request to fund an early-stage exchange startup without demonstrated demand or a functioning market, and I don’t find that persuasive as a case for funding. I reject.

Zerodartz: I also don’t see much benefits so I reject.

Decentralistdan: Reject as well, we have strong solutions at the moment that we have supported and this one doesn’t feel like the right time or the right application to fund.

Open meeting minutes Open referenced proposal

Forum links

1 primary, 0 supporting

Primary forum thread

Grant Proposal: ZEX for Zcash: CEX Speed, DEX Security, Simple and Global Access to ZEC

Hey this is Cotabe, I’m part of the team building ZEX , and we are here to propose a collaboration that feels like coming full circle. We have been building a DEX that aims to offer a significantly better solution for the trade-off between CEX-level speed and DEX-level security. We achieved thi...

Confidence: 100%
Forum URL: https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/grant-proposal-zex-for-zcash-cex-speed-dex-security-simple-and-global-access-to-zec/54551

Open forum thread

source: forum_mirror | topicId: 54551 | fetchedAt: 2026-10-16T07:06:32.503Z | categoryId: 36 | mirrorKind: forum_topic | coverageCapped: false | discoveredFrom: ["github_issue_comment:ZcashCommunityGrants/zcashcommunitygrants#208:comment:3843844679","google_sheet_row:1FQ28rDCyRW0TiNxrm3rgD8ai2KGUsXAjPieQmI1kKKg:1164534734:grant-platform:8ca57606822a4b27e8f1c2a2e82b8c1977796aafec269145a526cdb84b05bdd9"] | postStreamCount: 2

Application source evidence

Primary GitHub, Sheet, and other non-forum source records.

Github Issue

Grant Application - {ZEX for Zcash: CEX Speed, DEX Security, Simple and Global Access to ZEC.}

### Terms and Conditions - [x] I agree to the [Grant Agreement](https://9ba4718c-5c73-47c3-a024-4fc4e5278803.usrfiles.com/ugd/9ba471_f81ef4e4b5f040038350270590eb2e42.pdf) terms if funded - [x] I agree to [Provide KYC information](https:/...

Confidence: 100%
Source ID: ZcashCommunityGrants/zcashcommunitygrants#208

Open source record

Github Issue Comment

Comment on #208: Grant Application - {ZEX for Zcash: CEX Speed, DEX Security, Simple and Global Access to ZEC.}

@Cotabe you need to post to the [Forum](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com) for community feedback. If you have issues posting share your Forum username here and I'll assist. Your numbers are incorrect: Startup funding + milestones must eq...

Confidence: 100%
Source ID: ZcashCommunityGrants/zcashcommunitygrants#208:comment:3843450786

Open source record

Github Issue Comment

Comment on #208: Grant Application - {ZEX for Zcash: CEX Speed, DEX Security, Simple and Global Access to ZEC.}

Hey @alexgbo I don't see the option to create a new forum post. My username is Cotabe. I made the edits to the numbers. The first two milestones were considered under Startup funding, but I made the necessary adjustments.

Confidence: 100%
Source ID: ZcashCommunityGrants/zcashcommunitygrants#208:comment:3843520883

Open source record

Github Issue Comment

Comment on #208: Grant Application - {ZEX for Zcash: CEX Speed, DEX Security, Simple and Global Access to ZEC.}

Try again. If it requires mod approval after you post I'll get it take care of.

Confidence: 100%
Source ID: ZcashCommunityGrants/zcashcommunitygrants#208:comment:3843635634

Open source record

Github Issue Comment

Comment on #208: Grant Application - {ZEX for Zcash: CEX Speed, DEX Security, Simple and Global Access to ZEC.}

Thanks for the support. It's posted: https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/grant-proposal-zex-for-zcash-cex-speed-dex-security-simple-and-global-access-to-zec/54551 Let me know if there is anything else I need to do.

Confidence: 100%
Source ID: ZcashCommunityGrants/zcashcommunitygrants#208:comment:3843844679

Open source record

Google Sheet Row

ZEX for Zcash: CEX Speed, DEX Security, Simple and Global Access to ZEC.

Date Submitted: 2/3/2026 | Proposal Title: ZEX for Zcash: CEX Speed, DEX Security, Simple and Global Access to ZEC. | Applicant(s): ZEX | Grant Platform Link: https://github.com/ZcashCommunityGrants/zcashcommunitygrants/issues/208 | Forum Link: https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/grant-proposal-zex-f

Confidence: 100%
Source ID: 1FQ28rDCyRW0TiNxrm3rgD8ai2KGUsXAjPieQmI1kKKg:1164534734:grant-platform:8ca57606822a4b27e8f1c2a2e82b8c1977796aafec269145a526cdb84b05bdd9

Open source record

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