Cake Wallet wins $250K grant to add Zcash support, Monero community disappointed

Cake Wallet¹ has won a $250K grant² to add support for Zcash³ and the Monero community has reacted⁴ with disappointment and anger at the news:

We are extremely excited to be approved for a @ZcashOMG grant to add #Zcash to Cake Wallet!

Many in the community don’t consider Zcash to be on the same level with Monero, especially when it comes to privacy:

By doing this, Cake brings Zcash up to Monero’s level in the eyes of its (uninformed) users. They’re in effect saying the coins are equivalent, so use whichever you prefer. -geonic_⁵

The association between the two projects via Cake Wallet has caused a lot of upset and lots of users are already looking for alternatives:

I’m deleting Cake I’m getting everyone I told to download it to delete it too -Fungible_ecash_XMR⁶

Well this is disappointing news. Deleted my wallet and transferred my funds. Thank you for the work you have done for monero. -zopilord⁷

What’s the deal with Zcash? I thought Monero was the gold standard currency of choice for privacy. -MikeMeezy77⁸

I don’t want Z cash. Proof of stake coins are not sound money. Why would someone use Zcash over Monero? -Sweetscienceofcash⁹

There is substantial circumstantial evidence to suggest Zcash is the exact opposite of a privacy coin. -XMR2020¹⁰

Monero Core’s ArticMine¹¹ has also commented in support of PoW over PoS:

Proof of stake does not work with derivatives, lending, banking etc unless those who stake borrowed coins are strictly regulated by the state.¹²

Cake Wallet tried to calm down everyone by explaining what the ZOMG¹³ grant implies:

• Creating a Zcash wallet is completely optional
• Cake Wallet will remain free and open source
• Cake Wallet will remain a big contributor to the Monero ecosystem
• All Cake Wallet Zcash funds will be stored in a noncustodial Orchard z-address

You probably already know¹⁴ that I don’t particularly care about Zcash, but there are always at least two sides to any story, usually a lot more. It would be foolish to dismiss everything Zcash purely based on tribalism. I’m sure Monero could potentially benefit from part of their tech.

The Cake Wallet team is obviously free to decide the direction of their own project. Hopefully the forthcoming Monero-only wallet that Cake promised the community will be a great success that extinguishes all hard feelings.

The Monero community can fork Cake Wallet if they don’t like it, as the software is open source still.

Although I haven’t tried Cake Wallet myself, community feedback was very good until today and the project has certainly been a positive force in the Monero community over the years.

It is rather interesting how the PoW v PoS debate has been reignited on the same day the Monero community celebrates 2 years of RandomX PoW algorithm¹⁵.