Zcash traders have criticised a $550,000 community grant funding outreach at adult industry events, while organisers say the programme can help workers who face difficulties accessing traditional banking and payment services.
The ZECsy team’s appearance at Exxxotica, an adult entertainment convention in New Jersey, prompted renewed criticism after photographs showed its booth, branded as Mama’s Zcash Kitchen. Representatives demonstrated Zcash payments and distributed promotional material.
TraderSZ, a cryptocurrency trader on X, said he had increased his short position in ZEC. Another account, bet more, expressed disappointment with the campaign and backed a separate user’s decision to sell their Zcash holdings.
Other contributors on the original community forum defended the project. Developers and community members said it could introduce Zcash to people unfamiliar with cryptocurrency. One supporter, emersonian, argued that crypto projects regularly spend heavily on conference sponsorships and marketing, and described the budget as reasonable for the number of events planned.
Grant approved before criticism
Mylo Bennett submitted the original application on August 3, requesting $588,000 for a 12-month programme running from September 2026 through August 2027. It proposed eight cryptocurrency and technology events, four adult industry conventions and eight weekend workshops.
After discussions with Zcash Community Grants, Bennett submitted a revised proposal on August 26. The budget was reduced to $550,000 and the programme was refocused on five adult industry events, four cryptocurrency conferences and eight workshops.
Bennett said the changes would give the team more time with communities where banking restrictions and payment processing problems are common. Zcash Community Grants approved the revised proposal on August 31, although only the first nine monthly milestones were authorised.
Grant records show approximately $461,500 in approved funding, including an initial payment of $45,833 made on September 1. The money covers staff compensation, travel, accommodation, event sponsorships, educational materials and Zcash payment demonstrations.
Organisers highlight privacy benefits
ZECsy says adult industry workers can face problems opening or maintaining bank accounts, receiving payments and protecting personal information from customers. Its workshops cover self-custody wallets, shielded Zcash transactions and payment tools intended to limit unnecessary exposure of financial details.
The team has demonstrated CipherPay, a point-of-sale system that enables merchants to accept ZEC. Its September progress report said 20 adult service providers were publicly listing ZEC as a payment method, while two small businesses had begun accepting the cryptocurrency.
The report recorded $30,883 in spending from the first $45,833 payment, including staff compensation and advance arrangements for future events. Separately funded, a ZECsy appearance in Amsterdam generated approximately 200 event check-ins and led to contacts with organisations interested in future privacy workshops.
ZECsy said it would not monitor individual participants’ transaction histories after onboarding, because doing so would conflict with the privacy principles promoted by the programme. Working Girls Press was listed as a business that had processed ZEC payments through CipherPay during the Amsterdam event.
The debate comes as Zcash supporters continue to promote shielded transactions. In May, crypto.news reported that Arkham had attributed more than 53% of Zcash transactions to identifiable entities. Zcash founder Zooko Wilcox said that finding did not mean fully shielded transactions had been compromised, as activity within the shielded pool remained inaccessible to the analytics platform.
Organisers were preparing further merchant demonstrations at Exxxotica New Jersey, where a vendor was scheduled to accept ZEC at the booth. Zcash Community Grants has requested monthly updates covering spending, workshop attendance, wallet installations and completed events.
