Examining investors' return for Zcash's founders reward

When the cryptocurrency Zcash launched, part of its design was to designate 20% of the mining reward for the first four years, or 2.1 million of the total supply of ZEC, to be distributed among the founders, investors, employees, and advisors. But the founders reward expiration is fast approaching, presenting a defining moment for the token and prompting recent discussions and proposals in the community about possibly extending it beyond October 2020.

As of July 15, 2019, Electric Coin Co., which steers Zcash's development, has $3.35 million in the bank and 29,096 ZEC on its balance sheet. An extension to the founders reward would allow Electric Coin Co. to continue to devote the bulk of its time, energy and resources toward research and development of Zcash, as the firm's current estimates have it depleting its runway in 24 months.