Pretty Good Policy for Zcash (PGPZ) has established a formal Washington presence to advocate for the privacy-focused Zcash ecosystem, registering an in-house lobbyist and an operational plan ahead of an active policy season. The group’s federal filing, effective Oct. 1, names Divij Pandya as the sole lobbyist and identifies core agenda items including financial privacy, developer protections, market structure and several tax proposals. Specifically listed are the CLARITY Act (H.R. 3633), the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act (H.R. 10357) and the Aligning Digital Assets with Principles of Taxation Act (ADAPT).
Funding for year one comes from a $750,000 grant approved by Zcash Community Grants on Aug. 31. The grant application allocates $400,000 for operations, staffing and professional services; $125,000 for administrative support via the Financial Privacy Foundation; $120,000 for legal, lobbying, tax, accounting and compliance; $25,000 for policy events and workshops; and $25,000 for travel, conferences and congressional visits, with remaining funds for research, communications and contingency. The application explicitly prohibits using grant funds for campaign contributions, partisan activity or to influence ZEC market price.
PGPZ’s stated first-year plan includes at least 15 introductory meetings with policymakers, educational materials for congressional offices, at least one briefing or workshop, and continued regulatory responses and policy briefs. Near-term activities include an Oct. 14 Washington fly-in and a Cypherpunk Policy Dinner. The filing also signals intent to propose amendments or legislative language where rules could affect privacy-preserving technology, with developer liability, anti-money-laundering rules, sanctions and surveillance among monitored topics. PGPZ emphasizes independence from the Zcash Foundation while building on prior outreach by Pretty Good Policy for Crypto and Zcash Open Development Lab (ZODL).
The registration arrives against a mixed legislative backdrop: the Senate failed to invoke cloture on H.R. 3633 on Sept. 15 by a 49–50 vote, underscoring uncertainty around market-structure reform. PGPZ positions itself to ensure Zcash’s privacy-preserving design and noncustodial developer community are represented in debates over the CLARITY Act, tax treatment of digital assets, and other U.S. regulatory developments occurring alongside planned Zcash protocol work such as the NU7 testnet activation on Oct. 6 and a targeted mainnet upgrade on Nov. 5.