Buterin Urges Zcash to Reject Token Voting as Governance Rift Widens
His warning centers on concerns that coin-weighted ballots could erode Zcash’s privacy mission through concentrated, short-term control.
Overview
- Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin publicly argued that token voting would be worse than Zcash’s status quo, citing risks laid out in his 2021 governance analysis.
- The renewed dispute followed Zcash co-founder Zooko Wilcox’s endorsement of ZCG member Artkor in a committee election, which drew fresh scrutiny of the project’s governance.
- AngelList co-founder Naval Ravikant labeled Zcash’s committee model obsolete and promoted on-chain, private token voting as an alternative.
- A recent token-based retroactive grants pilot reportedly distributed over $500 million with roughly 7.5% holder participation, intensifying questions about representativeness and influence.
- Critics warn coin-weighted systems enable hidden vote-buying and whale dominance that could steer priorities away from privacy, while supporters point to funding wins for core research and infrastructure.