A privacy-focused cryptocurrency project has moved from informal education in the capital to a formal lobbying presence. Pretty Good Policy for Zcash, or PGPZ, registered under the Lobbying Disclosure Act with an effective date of October 1, 2026, naming executive director Divij Pandya as its only in-house lobbyist.
The filing frames the organization’s work around ecosystem development, protections for software developers, and financial privacy, and it identifies three measures already on the group’s agenda.
Those measures are H.R. 3633, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, often called the CLARITY Act; the Aligning Digital Assets with Principles of Taxation Act, known as the ADAPT Act; and the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act.
The registration does not spell out specific amendments. It lists the bills as current or expected subjects of contact with federal officials, leaving the precise positions for later disclosure reports.
PGPZ was formed in June 2026 out of Pretty Good Policy for Crypto, an effort Electric Coin Co. started in 2022.
That earlier initiative held recurring policy roundtables in Washington and arranged a congressional briefing on privacy-enhancing and encryption technologies in 2023.
The newer group presents itself as an independent policy organization, not an arm of the Zcash Foundation, and says it is not endorsed by the foundation.
Its stated role is to help lawmakers and regulators understand privacy-preserving digital money, and to respond when legislation or rules could affect the Zcash network.
Founder Paul Brigner, who is also chief policy and regulatory officer at the Zcash Open Development Lab, has described the aim as giving the project organized and credible representation in Washington.
In comments carried by industry coverage, he argued that officials are deciding whether privacy-preserving digital cash can exist, be used within the law, and serve a public purpose, and that PGPZ exists so Zcash is explained and defended in those debates.
Pandya, who previously worked at the advisory firm FS Vector, is expected to handle Capitol Hill outreach, policy analysis, and coalition work.
Funding for the first year comes from the Zcash community rather than a corporate treasury.
Zcash Community Grants approved a $750,000 request on August 31 after reviewing a one-year operating plan.
Brigner, who sits on the grants committee and helped set up PGPZ, stepped aside from that discussion.
The budget sets aside roughly $400,000 for operations, staffing, and professional services, about $125,000 for administrative support through the Financial Privacy Foundation, and about $120,000 for legal, lobbying, tax, accounting, and compliance work.
Smaller amounts cover events, travel, research, and communications.
The application bars the money from campaign contributions, partisan election activity, or efforts to promote the market price of ZEC.
The timing tracks a stalled market-structure debate.
The Senate Banking Committee advanced its version of the CLARITY framework in May, but on September 15 the Senate failed to invoke cloture on a motion to proceed to H.R. 3633, voting 49–50 when 60 votes were required.
Tax measures named in the filing have moved on separate tracks: the House Ways and Means Committee ordered an amended Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act reported in mid-September, and Senator Steve Daines introduced the ADAPT Act on September 30.
PGPZ’s early plan calls for introductory meetings with policymakers, educational materials for congressional offices, policy briefs, and at least one briefing.
An October 14 Washington fly-in and a Cypherpunk Policy Dinner are among the first scheduled activities.
The group has also flagged developer liability, anti-money-laundering rules, sanctions, and financial surveillance as areas it intends to watch, with particular attention to safe harbors for people who write and maintain noncustodial privacy software.
The registration places a shielded-transaction network inside a lobbying field already occupied by much larger digital asset firms. Whether a dedicated privacy advocate changes the text of market-structure or tax bills remains open.
What has changed is the paper trail: Zcash-related arguments will now be made under a disclosure regime that requires named lobbyists, reported contacts, and public spending figures.