On February 15th, 2025, the Horizen DAO held a Special Council vote, marking a significant event in the governance of the Horizen ecosystem. This vote was open for 7 days, closing on February 22nd, 2025.

Who Won the Election?

Two newcomers joined the Horizen Special Council - Johncarlo (Psyrax) and Domenico (Sodiomayor). We also saw a Special Council member return, Ben Charbit.

Here was the breakdown of voting results:

• Johncarlo: 25.96%

• Domenico: 17.33%

• Ben Charbit: 16.71%

• Sean Sullivan: 11.59%

• Manon Boudoux: 9.34%

• Trololino: 8.2%

• PVM: 8.17%

• Nhuel: 1.41%

• Robin Giskemo: 1.3%

Before we provide more information on the 2 new Special Council Members and the returning member, we wanted to provide our sincere thanks to the 2 outgoing Special Council Members, Brian Rose & Marwan Alzarouni. Thank you both very much for all of your contributions during your time as Horizen Special Council Members!

Let’s learn more about Johncarlo, Domenico, and Ben, who took their seats on the Horizen Special Council on March 15th!

Johncarlo

Johncarlo, also known as JC to his friends and Psyrax on Discord, has been an integral part of the Horizen project since its early days.

His crypto journey began in 2013 with Litecoin and in 2016 with Ethereum, but it was the emergence of Zcash and zClassic that deepened his involvement in the space. Johncarlo has contributed technical support and moderated communication channels like Discord, Slack, and Telegram.

Through all the ups and downs, his belief in Horizen’s potential has remained unwavering. With a passion for the project and a strong technical background, Johncarlo is dedicated to helping elevate Horizen to new heights and ensuring its continued success.

Domenico

Domenico, from Italy, has been actively involved in the crypto space since 2017, focusing on the technical and development aspects, thanks to his diverse background. He discovered Horizen in early 2018, when it was still ZenCash, through friends who introduced him to the secure nodes ecosystem.

Over the years, Domenico has helped solve hundreds of technical issues for users on Discord and Telegram, providing support for nodes, wallets, and various software-related matters. He has also made significant contributions to the community's growth and was one of the most active members alongside Psyrax.

With deep technical expertise and a strong understanding of the Horizen/EON ecosystem, Domenico aims to bridge the gap between technology, governance, and users. He believes that community support and clear communication are essential to the success of Horizen’s upgrades and expansion. His vision is to ensure the community plays a more strategic and active role in DAO decisions, promoting direct engagement and fostering innovation within the ecosystem.

Ben

As a founding member of this governance body, Ben has had the privilege of contributing to the early stages of its evolution and is excited to share his vision for taking Horizen to new heights at this pivotal moment.

Ben's journey with Horizen is deeply rooted in his work as the CEO of Darewise and co-founder of the BLife protocol on Bitcoin. A long-time partner of Horizen and Horizen Labs, Ben has consistently advocated for Horizen's unique value proposition, particularly its critical role in enhancing privacy within UTXO chains. While passionate about Bitcoin, Ben rejects maximalist ideologies and believes that other blockchains, like Horizen, play a vital role in advancing a decentralized future. This belief drives Ben’s commitment to Horizen and his desire to continue serving on the Special Council.

Key accomplishments and experience include:

• Governance Leadership: As a founding member of the Special Council, Ben has played an active role in reviewing and overseeing numerous Zen Improvement Proposals (ZenIPs), ensuring alignment with community priorities and long-term strategic goals.

• Web3 Builder: As the founder of Darewise, a Web3 gaming company acquired by Animoca Brands, Ben helped transition the company to Bitcoin in 2023, launching innovative applications like Odin.fun, a leading app for meme coin trading on Bitcoin.

• Ecosystem Builder: With BLife, Ben federated 30 large projects in the Bitcoin space, driving collaboration and adoption. These experiences have equipped Ben with the skills to help expand Horizen’s developer and user ecosystem.

Ben is committed to continuing his work in advancing Horizen’s growth and impact within the broader blockchain ecosystem.

What was at Stake?

Three of the seven seats on the Special Council were up for election.

Special Council members play a crucial role in the Horizen DAO’s operations, providing oversight and ensuring the security of the entire Horizen ecosystem. Their main responsibility is to act as stewards of the DAO, focusing on maintaining the safety and security of the DAO, the $ZEN token, and the Foundation.

In addition to oversight, the Special Council may call for emergency operational meetings in the event of security threats affecting the DAO or any protocol involving the $ZEN token. Before any major proposals, such as ZenIPs, go up for a final vote by Tokenholders, the Special Council serves as a vital line of defense, reviewing and providing input on these proposals.

Learn more about the Special Council and the role it plays in the Horizen DAO Constitution.

Meet the Candidates

Here were the candidates running for the three available Special Council seats, along with links to their candidacy statements:

• Vladan Nikolic (Trololino)

• Sean Sullivan (SKyTL)

• Robin Giskemo

• Manon Boudoux

• Johncarlo (Psyrax)

• Paul Mihalache (PVM)

• Emmanuel Umoh (Nhuel)

• Domenico (Sodiomayor)

• Ben Charbit

Voting Process

The voting opened on February 15th and remained open for 7 days until February 22nd.

Voting was conducted on the Horizen Foundation Snapshot, where interested users can vote for up to 3 nominees. We’re including some frequently asked questions below to help you get started on casting your vote.

How much voting power do I have?

Your voting power is a sum of the following criteria:

• $ZEN in your EVM wallet (such as MetaMask).

• $ZEN in your linked mainchain wallet.

• The total amount of $ZEN that was delegated to forger nodes from your EON Wallet.

Please note that Horizen uses Snapshot for voting. This means that your voting power will be a total of the items above at a specific block height on EON. If token values change after that specified block height it will not be included in your voting power.

How do I link my mainchain wallet to my EON address?

Being that many users prefer to keep their $ZEN on Horizen’s mainchain we’ve made it possible to vote on proposals while keeping $ZEN on the mainchain. Please use the following guide to link your mainchain and EON addresses:

Do I have to do anything if I stake $ZEN to a forger node to vote on proposals?

No. As long as you are using the same wallet which was used to delegate stake, your voting power will include all $ZEN that is staked to forger nodes.

How do I vote on ZENIPs using my staked $ZEN?

Voting is done on Snapshot using Horizen EON.

1. Go to the Horizen Foundation Snapshot page: https://snapshot.org/#/horizenfoundation.eth

   1. Make sure to join the Horizen Foundation as a member on Snapshot.

2. Connect your wallet.

3. Choose a proposal you would like to vote on.

4. Read through the proposal and look at the possible voting options.

5. Select a choice, you will be asked to sign a message with your wallet to vote on the proposal (this does not incur any gas fees).