Zechub is a community-driven, open-source education hub established in June 2022, dedicated to the Zcash (ZEC) cryptocurrency ^[1]. It aims to provide resources, guides, and tools to help users understand and utilize the Zcash network and its privacy-preserving features ^[2].

Overview

Zechub operates as a central educational resource for the Zcash ecosystem, with the primary goal of promoting the understanding and adoption of Zcash as a digital currency for secure and private payments ^[2]. The initiative functions as an independent, non-commercial, and grassroots project developed and maintained by members of the Zcash community ^[3]. It positions itself as a neutral informational resource, distinct from official entities like the Electric Coin Company (ECC) or the Zcash Foundation, while working to complement their educational efforts ^[3].

The project's content is open-sourced and hosted on GitHub, which enables a decentralized approach to content creation and curation. This model allows anyone from the community to contribute, suggest edits, and help validate the accuracy of the information, with the intention of creating a reliable and censorship-resistant resource that is not controlled by a single entity ^[3]. All work distributed by the platform is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, which permits the open sharing and adaptation of its material ^[3].

Zechub's content covers a wide range of topics, from introductory guides for beginners to advanced technical explanations of Zcash's underlying technology. This includes detailed information on cryptographic principles such as the verifiable zk-SNARKs implemented in the Zcash NU5 network upgrade, which are fundamental to the network's privacy capabilities ^[2].

Products

Zechub develops and maintains several products and resources focused on education and community engagement within the Zcash ecosystem.

Informational Platforms

The primary product is Zechub.wiki, an educational website that serves as a repository for guides, tutorials, and a comprehensive glossary of Zcash-related terms ^[2]. The content on the wiki is often presented in a short, beginner-friendly format to facilitate user onboarding ^[3].

Zechub also produces a regular article series called Zcash Shielded News, which provides the community with updates and facts about developments within the Zcash ecosystem ^[1].

Newsletters

The platform offers two distinct newsletters. The Shielded Newsletter is an ecosystem update and network statistics digest delivered directly to a subscriber's Zcash wallet, utilizing the Unified Address format for shielded access ^[2]. A separate Weekly Newsletter provides a digest of community events, Zcash Community Grants updates, and other developments ^[3].

Multimedia Content

Zechub creates multimedia content to explain various aspects of the Zcash ecosystem. This includes Video Tutorials hosted on YouTube that explain how to use ZEC and navigate the ecosystem ^[3]. The project also produces a Podcast and other Interviews, which feature conversations with Zcash community members, developers, and leaders from organizations like the Electric Coin Co., distributed in both video and written formats ^{[3] [1]}.

Community Tools and Commerce

To foster community interaction and utility, Zechub maintains Zcash.me, a public directory for Zcash users that includes features like private messaging, user leaderboards, and a verification system ^[2]. The platform also provides a Zcash Merchant Map, a resource that shows retail locations that accept Zcash for payments ^[1]. Additionally, the Zechub Store serves as an online shop for merchandise related to both Zechub and Zcash ^[2].

Features

The Zechub platform incorporates several key features to support its educational mission, and its content is focused on explaining the core features of the Zcash protocol.

Platform Features

Zechub is characterized by its decentralized and open structure. Content is Community-Driven, relying on contributions from a global community for creation, peer review, and validation of all materials ^[3]. The entire project is built on an Open-Source Framework, with its code and content hosted on a public GitHub repository to ensure transparency and enable a collaborative workflow ^{[2] [3]}.

The Zechub.wiki website organizes its Categorized Educational Content into distinct sections, such as "Start Here" for beginners, "Guides" for practical applications, and "Zcash Tech" for deep dives into the protocol's technology. It also provides Resource Directories, which are curated lists of essential ecosystem tools like Zcash-compatible wallets and merchants that accept ZEC ^[2]. To support its operations, the platform includes Donation Functionality on a dedicated page for community contributions made in Zcash ^[2].

Documented Zcash Features

A primary function of Zechub is to educate the public on the features of Zcash. The platform frequently creates content explaining Shielded Transactions, Zcash's core feature that allows for private transactions by obscuring the sender, receiver, and transaction amount ^[1].

Zechub has also highlighted emerging technologies in the ecosystem, such as Intent-Based Swaps. This decentralized swap mechanism, used by ecosystem wallets like Zashi, allows a user to broadcast their desired trade as an "intent," which is then filled by a competitive, off-chain network of "solvers" who find the most efficient solution ^[1]. Additionally, the platform reports on the in-development Zcash Shielded Asset Protocol (ZSA), a protocol designed to allow users to create their own custom assets with the same privacy features as Zcash ^[1].

Ecosystem

Zechub operates within the Zcash ecosystem and serves to document its various components. As a grassroots project, its role is to support the growth and adoption of Zcash by providing educational infrastructure for new users, developers, and enthusiasts ^[3].

The platform actively provides information on a variety of independent projects, organizations, and technologies that constitute the Zcash ecosystem ^[2]. Key entities and technologies frequently highlighted by Zechub include:

• Zcash: The foundational proof-of-work blockchain protocol that Zechub is dedicated to educating the public about ^[1].
• Electric Coin Co. (ECC): The organization that supports the development and adoption of Zcash, whose members are sometimes featured in Zechub interviews ^{[2] [1]}.
• Wallet Applications: Projects such as Zashi, a Zcash wallet featuring intent-based decentralized swaps, and Nighthawk Wallet, which has integrated Flexa for in-store payments, are covered in Zechub's educational content ^[1].
• Development Teams: Zechub follows the work of development teams contributing to the Zcash protocol, such as QEDIT, which is building the Zcash Shielded Asset Protocol (ZSA) ^[1].
• Community Projects: The platform provides information on and links to other ecosystem projects, such as Free2Z, a social platform powered by Zcash; paywithz.cash, a directory of vendors that accept ZEC; and ZKAV Club ^[2].

Use Cases

Zechub's educational materials are intended for specific purposes, and they explain the various use cases of the Zcash cryptocurrency and its related technologies.

Zechub Platform Use Cases

• Onboarding new users to Zcash through beginner-friendly guides, articles, and video tutorials ^[3].
• Providing a centralized and accessible repository for accurate, up-to-date information regarding the Zcash protocol and its ecosystem ^[3].
• Keeping the Zcash community informed of ecosystem-wide news, events, and developments through its newsletters and news series ^{[2] [1]}.
• Creating a platform that allows Zcash community members to share their knowledge and expertise with a broader audience ^[3].

Zcash Use Cases Documented by Zechub

• Making private and censorship-resistant digital payments between individuals or entities, with transaction metadata kept confidential ^{[2] [1]}.
• Spending Zcash for goods and services at retail locations through wallet integrations with payment networks like Flexa ^[1].
• Conducting peer-to-peer donations securely and privately ^[2].
• Executing cross-chain swaps between Zcash (ZEC) and assets on other blockchains, such as those enabled by the NEAR Protocol's "Intents" framework ^[1].
• Transferring confidential information or messages via the encrypted memo field included in shielded Zcash transactions ^[2].
• Creating new, custom, shielded-by-default tokens on the Zcash network, a future use case that will be enabled upon the activation of the Zcash Shielded Asset Protocol ^[1].

Architecture

Zechub's technical architecture is that of a web-based educational platform, which is distinct from the Zcash blockchain's architecture that it documents.

Zechub Platform Architecture

The platform's architecture is fundamentally based on its public GitHub repository, which functions as the central point for all content creation, peer review, and management. This structure enables a decentralized and transparent workflow for community contributions ^[3]. The project's website and associated tools are built using a technology stack that includes Rust, Dart, and TypeScript. The website front-end specifically uses the Next.js framework to deliver its content ^{[2] [3]}.

Ecosystem Architecture Documented by Zechub

As an educational resource, Zechub also provides insight into the architecture of specific protocols and functions within the Zcash ecosystem. For example, the platform has explained the intent-based architecture used for decentralized swaps in the Zashi wallet. This architecture is composed of two main components: an "Intent Creation" step, where a user expresses a desired outcome and broadcasts it, and a network of "Off-chain Solvers," where decentralized market makers compete to find the most efficient path to fulfill the user's intent and present an executable solution ^[1].

Tokenomics

Zechub does not have its own native token. It is a community project built to support the Zcash (ZEC) cryptocurrency, and its primary focus is on educating users about the utility of ZEC. The platform features a donation portal to accept contributions in ZEC to fund its community-driven operations ^{[2] [3]}.

• Allocation: Not applicable, as Zechub has no native token.
• Utilities: Not applicable, as Zechub has no native token.
• Governance: Governance of the Zechub platform is based on its open-source contribution model via GitHub, not a token-based voting system.

Confirmed Partnerships

The provided source materials indicate that Zechub operates as an independent community initiative and does not use the formal term "partnerships" to describe its relationships. However, it actively collaborates with or promotes several key entities within the Zcash ecosystem ^{[2] [3]}.

Zechub also reports on integrations and development partnerships between various Zcash ecosystem projects and third-party platforms that expand Zcash's utility. These ecosystem partnerships include ^[1]:

• Flexa: Partnered with Zcash wallet providers, including Zashi and Nighthawk Wallet, to enable in-store payments with ZEC.
• NEAR Protocol: The protocol's "Intents" framework has integrated Zcash to allow for cross-chain swaps between ZEC and assets on the NEAR blockchain.
• QEDIT: A development partner for the Zcash network, tasked with building the Zcash Shielded Asset Protocol (ZSA).

Entities that Zechub collaborates with or actively promotes include ^[2]:

• Free2Z
• paywithz.cash
• Electric Coin Company
• ZKAV Club