The Winklevoss Brothers Donated More Than $1M in ZEC to Support Zcash Development

• An independent developer in the Zcash Shielded Labs ecosystem received a $1.2 million donation in ZEC.
• It was sent by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, long-time supporters of Zcash.

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss donated 3,221 ZEC ($1.2 million at the time) to Shielded Labs. The funds will be used to further develop and scale the Zcash network. 

In particular, this includes the following initiatives:

• Network Sustainability Mechanism. A mechanism for issuance, fee distribution, and coin burning to support the network’s long-term sustainability. It includes three core proposals, ZIP 233-235
• Crosslink. A finality layer to unify the ecosystem and its liquidity
• Dynamic Fees. A mechanism that adjusts fees dynamically depending on activity levels

In its release, Shielded Labs emphasized that the Winklevoss twins are long-time supporters of Zcash, both personally and through their crypto exchange, Gemini. Cameron explained it this way:

Tyler agreed, noting the contribution of independent developers to the ecosystem’s formation and growth. 

Shielded Labs, meanwhile, operates primarily on donations. The organization does not build standalone commercial products, does not receive grants from the blockchain development fund, and does not collect block processing fees. 

The company also noted that this is the Winklevosses’ second donation. The first was in 2023 and helped lay the foundation for the team working on Crosslink. 

The brothers also fund some politicians. In particular, donations from them were also received by the team of current U.S. President Donald Trump. 

Earlier, we covered the split within the Zcash project. The development team, including former Electric Coin Company CEO Josh Swihart, left the organization. Read more: