Zcash Shielded News is a community article format based on the weekly Zcash Ecosystem Digest Newsletter.
Providing insight on current events and informing the community about important news in the Zcash ecosystem.
Check out the best Highlights below!
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Fact of the Week 💡
DEXs make trading decentralized, but not necessarily private. Zcash helps show what a more private onchain future could look like, where users can move value without putting their balances, history, and activity on display for everyone.
📩 In today’s edition: 🦓 Peer Adds a Fiat-to-Zcash Onramp• A new fiat-to-Zcash onramp is now live on Peer, offering a more direct and privacy-preserving way to access ZEC. Powered by NEAR Intents, this implementation removes the need for additional verification, middlemen, or centralized exchanges. 🚀 ZODL 3.3.0 is Live• The latest release for iOS and Android adds Keystone disconnect in Settings, updates the Zcash SDK, and includes a round of UX and UI improvements, with more wallet features already being finalized for the next version. 🛠️ ZF Engineering Update – March 23 to April 5, 2026• The latest ZF engineering update highlights security fixes in Zebra, infrastructure and CI improvements, continued work across FROST, and progress on tooling and release preparation. 🔴 Red-Bridge | Updates & Adjustment Approved• Kit shared progress on infrastructure, security, and interface design, including completed threat modeling work, implementation of Least Authority’s recommendations, and delivery of the bridge GUI’s UX and UI milestone. 🤔 Thinking Big – ZODL Update• In this week’s update, Josh connected the momentum of Artemis II to ZODL’s broader vision for Zcash, emphasizing a clear focus on post-quantum security, scalability, and user experience. 💡 Protocol Study Begins April 21• A 12-session guided reading of the Zcash Protocol Specification begins with §1.1 and §1.2, followed by a conversation with Nate Wilcox on notes, nullifiers, consensus, and the protocol’s core privacy model.
Fiat to Zcash is now live on Peer.
A new fiat-to-Zcash onramp is now live on Peer, giving users a more direct way to access ZEC through a privacy-preserving experience. Built with NEAR Intents, this implementation removes the need for additional verification, middlemen, or centralized exchanges.
It marks a meaningful step forward for accessibility and usability, bringing together easier fiat access and stronger privacy in a way that fits the values the ecosystem is working to protect.
Give it a try 🙂→ Link
ZODL 3.3.0 is Live.
Recently, Zodl released a new update for iOS and Android.
Version 3.3.0 is now live, bringing the ability to disconnect a Keystone hardware wallet directly from Settings, an update to Zcash SDK 2.4.8, and a series of UX and UI improvements.
Looking ahead, version 3.4.0 is expected to introduce the ability to resync a wallet without re-entering the recovery phrase, support for wallet birthday height in Keystone imports, and additional locale fixes.
Update now. → zodl.com
ZF Engineering Update – March 23 to April 5, 2026
Over the past two weeks, ZF addressed two security issues in Zebra, including a consensus bug affecting V5 transactions and a separate issue in V5 transaction hash handling that could trigger remote panics over the p2p network. The fixes also included updates to the transaction deserializer, property-based test generators, and changelogs with links to the latest security advisories.
Beyond security, the team fixed a Zebra performance issue that caused repeated parsing of checkpoint data and could drive a thread to 100% CPU. The update also introduced a dedicated profiling build profile and documentation improvements to make profiling easier.
Additional work included moving Zebra’s lint configuration into Rust’s workspace lint system for more consistent CI behavior, implementing defensive fixes in FROST, continuing preparations for FROST v3.0.0, and redesigning the z3 Docker Compose setup with an updated regtest environment and Zaino support.
Red-Bridge | Updates & Adjustment Approved
Kit shared a grant update tied to recent progress on the project’s infrastructure and security work.
The request would adjust Milestone 4.1 so it aligns with an Avalanche Foundation InfraBUIDL() milestone that has already been completed. That work included creating a threat model for the ZavaX Oracle prototype L1 using Invariant-Centric Threat Modeling principles.
As part of that process, the threat model was reviewed by Least Authority, the security firm known for auditing AvalancheGo. Least Authority issued its report on December 30, 2024, and the recommendations were implemented in the months leading up to the project’s most recent meeting on March 25.
This update also highlights additional progress already delivered.
Milestone 4.2 was completed on April 15, 2025, covering the UX and UI design for the bridge GUI. According to the update, the current demo and codebase already reflect the exact interface planned for the bridge, while the remaining difference between Milestones 4.1 and 5.1 is limited to running the test platform with three validators instead of one.
Thinking Big | ZODL Update
Josh’s update this week connects the momentum of Artemis II to ZODL’s broader vision for Zcash. The main message is that the ecosystem should remain firmly focused on post-quantum security, scalability, and user experience.
It also emphasizes the need to securely scale the protocol and its applications to reach billions of users.
The broader point is that a digital world where people can transact freely and privately, without surveillance, may seem out of reach to many, but this update presents it as achievable with the right focus and execution.
ZODL
Zodl 3.3.0 launched on iOS and Android, adding Keystone disconnect in Settings, updating the Zcash SDK to 2.4.8, and shipping UX/UI fixes across both platforms.(listed above)
Zodl 3.3.1 launched on Android with a fix for a Flexa payment issue.
Wallet Birthday Height and Resync Wallet are being finalized for Zodl 3.4.0.
Designs were finalized for Coinholder Polling, Receive redesign, Transparent address rotation, and UIVK/UFVK import.
Zodl was temporarily removed from the App Store and Play Store in Russia due to VPN crackdowns and infrastructure blocking affecting light-client services.
Metrics
🍎 | iOS: 40k (+0.5k) Unique Installs, 47.3k (+0.8k) Total Downloads, App Store rating of 4.9★ (no change)
🤖 | Android: 15.4k (-0.2k) Install Base, 48k (+1k)Total Installs (incl. Open Beta), Play Store Rating of 4.22★ (-0.04)
Zcash Core
The team created test vectors for ZIP 316 Revision 2 addresses, UIVKs, and UFVKs, helping solidify unified address handling across wallets.
A bug in the listaddresses RPC was fixed, wallet UX work on the Rewind method was supported, and Zallet alpha.4 continued progressing.
Other
ZODL attended the DC Stablecoin Privacy Summit, reinforcing Zcash’s role as a foundational privacy layer.
Josh also spoke at an Ipê City event on privacy.
Zcash Engineering Office Hours: Protocol Walkthrough §1.1 - 1.2
Protocol Study begins at the start of the Zcash Protocol Specification, focusing on §1.1’s warning that Zcash security depends entirely on consensus, and §1.2’s overview of the full protocol: notes, commitments, nullifiers, chain value pools, and the core privacy claim that sets Zcash apart from mixing-based alternatives.
The first 30 minutes will be a guided reading of the spec itself, defining key terms on their own terms:
What is a note?
What does a nullifier actually do?
What does it mean when the spec says a spent note cannot be linked to the transaction that created it?
The second 30 minutes will be an open conversation with co-host Nate Wilcox, one of the authors of the specification, exploring what these sections mean in practice, how the design choices in §1.2 have held up across four protocol eras, and which questions are still worth exploring.
Bring the PDF: zips.z.cash/protocol/protocol.pdf
Starting point: page 8
Save the Date
📅 | Date: Tuesday, 21 April
⏰ | Time: 12:00–13:00 GMT-3
💡 | How to Join: luma.com