Immediately 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 wanting transformative, and his management has left an indelible mark on the Zcash ecosystem.
Jack started his profession working with startups throughout the dot-com growth 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 development. His work at ECC included collaborating with JP Morgan on integrating privacy-preserving expertise into their Quorum blockchain platform, showcasing his potential to bridge conventional finance and cutting-edge cryptographic options.
Jack additionally labored extensively with regulators and policymakers to coach them on cryptocurrencies and privacy-preserving applied sciences. His efforts had been instrumental in serving to Zcash achieve regulatory acceptance, akin to its itemizing on Gemini Change after approval from the New York Division of Monetary Companies. Moreover, he assisted in shaping international cryptocurrency laws via his participation in conferences with organizations like FATF, advocating for balanced approaches that assist innovation whereas addressing compliance issues.
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.
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 sturdy various to zcashd and lays a strong basis for future improvements in privacy-preserving expertise. Underneath his steering, the Basis additionally supported initiatives like FROST (Versatile Spherical-Optimized Schnorr Threshold Signatures), which reinforces 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 operating Zcash Group Advisory Panel (ZCAP) polls, to make sure that neighborhood voices formed vital 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 to your unwavering dedication to advancing monetary privateness. Your legacy will encourage us as we proceed constructing.
