Here are your weekly Zcash updates:

• Zcash is now supported by a US publicly traded company. That’s pretty amazing.
• “Privacy will become a more popular investment theme.” Barry Silbert namedrops Zcash in his first interview in eight months.
• Former CIA director Michael Morell published a paper on Bitcoin’s use in illicit finance. The paper was commissioned by Crypto Council for Innovation (whose members include Coinbase, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Square). While this may seem good for Bitcoin, the paper makes some concerning conclusions about mass surveillance and crime. Check out Josh’s thread for more context.
• New Release 4.4.0 allows zcashd to be configured to optionally expose an HTTP server that acts as a Prometheus scrape endpoint.
• This week, ECC announced Halo Arc and Unified Addresses. Both of these announcements signal a new era for Zcash – one that is shielded by default, without the trusted setup and without the challenges of multiple address formats.

Mark your calendars –

In the news (besides Coinbase), Oklahoma is launching a state-wide ALPR (automatic license plate readers) program using mass surveillance as a way to collect more revenue.“Policing is not about crime control or public safety but about the regulation of people’s lives — their movements and modes of being in the world.” AI researchers boycott Google after the firing of Timnit Gebru.

The Winklevoss twins will be on the May cover of Forbes .Nigierian artists dabble with NFTs. MEV (miner extratable value) is a growing concern (and fascinating topic!) for Ethereum. Don’t miss the March Roundup from ZKMesh.

That’s all for this week folks!