We’ve just shipped the first feature in the Zashi–NEAR integration: a private, decentralized off-ramp for shielded ZEC. Starting today, you can swap shielded ZEC to any NEAR-supported cryptocurrency in Zashi.

How It Works

• Open Zashi and go to More → Swap
• Enter the amount of shielded ZEC you want to swap.
• Add the destination wallet address for the cryptocurrency you want to receive.
• Review the quote and confirm.

That’s it! Because you’re swapping from your shielded address, your address, balances, and transaction history remain fully protected.

Why It Matters

For some of us, centralized exchanges aren’t even an option. For others, it’s about not handing over personal information to entities that act as honeypots for hackers. This feature gives you another path:

• A convenient, decentralized, private off-ramp when centralized exchanges aren’t possible or desired.
• Convert only the ZEC you need, while the rest of your balance stays shielded.
• Extra protection in places where financial privacy is a necessary safeguard, not just a preference.

This isn’t the full swap functionality in Zashi yet. That’s still coming. But it’s a meaningful first step, and it lays the groundwork for what’s next: private cross-chain payments and full swaps in and out of ZEC inside Zashi. 

Take Zashi’s new private off-ramp for a spin and let us know what it unlocks for you!

 Shields up.

We’re proud to share that shielded ZEC is now supported in Brave Wallet—marking a huge milestone not only for Zcash, but for the future of privacy across the web. The integration is part of the ongoing partnership between ECC, Brave, and Filecoin Foundation announced at Mainnet 2023.

This release has been years in the making. It began, like so many good things do, over barbecue in Austin—just a few privacy nerds from ECC and Brave, trading ideas about wallets, browsers, and a shared vision of what privacy could look like in Web3. That casual meal turned into a multi-year, deeply collaborative effort to bring shielded Zcash to millions of Brave users.

What makes this moment so important isn’t just the technology—though building zero-knowledge support into a browser-based wallet for the first time ever is a major technical achievement. It’s the fact that Brave and ECC share a core belief: privacy is a fundamental right. Not a gimmick, not a luxury—something essential to freedom in the digital age.

Now, for the first time, users can store and spend shielded ZEC directly in their browser. This paves the way for true private payments across the web and introduces millions of users to financial privacy in a way that’s accessible and intuitive.

It’s also worth recognizing how it was made possible: not through a one-off grant or transactional integration, but through deep, sustained collaboration between ECC and Brave at every level. Our teams have met every other week since this partnership began—solving challenges, checking in through shared channels, and building trust for the last 3 years. Brave developers leaned on ECC’s core engineering team to understand and integrate our libraries, and ECC engineers worked side by side with them to ensure the implementation goes smoothly.

This kind of partnership is rare. It reflects a long-term commitment—not just to each other and this milestone, but to the broader mission of building tools that protect users, not exploit them. That commitment reaches from engineers to leadership and continues well beyond this important achievement.

Shielded ZEC in Brave is a win for Zcash, a win for Brave, and—most importantly—a win for humanity. This is what it looks like when the right people come together to build the financial tools we actually want.

Learn more in Brave’s official announcement.

Shields up.

We are so proud to announce the launch of the Zashi-Keystone integration, a major breakthrough for the Zcash community that has been years in the making. This integration marks a significant evolution in Zcash usability by enabling cold storage of shielded ZEC.

The Wait 

“It’s been a long and challenging road,” says our CEO Josh Swihart. “Due to the computation needed to create zero-knowledge proofs, we had to overcome a number of technical hurdles in order to support shielded ZEC on a hardware wallet. This is cryptography, hardware, and software all coming together with a beautiful user experience for the first time.”

 A robust front end capable of handling the complexities of shielded ZEC transactions was critical to integrating with a hardware wallet like Keystone. “Zashi wasn’t just another wallet; it became the necessary front-end that made the Keystone integration feasible. This wouldn’t be possible without ECC’s core team’s deep knowledge of the Zcash protocol.”

Working Together 

The Zcash community has faced setbacks with other hardware wallet platforms when development promises weren’t met, which resulted in stalled funds and frustration. Keystone emerged as a collaborative partner willing to push boundaries and innovate alongside us. Their exceptional commitment and capabilities didn’t go unnoticed. The community embraced Keystone, and they received a ZCG grant to fuel their work. 

The non-stop exchange of ideas and solutions between the ECC and Keystone teams is notable. Keystone’s proactive approach and dedication to addressing complex technical issues made it a seamless collaboration. “Keystone proved to be an invaluable partner in developing the Zashi integration, displaying remarkable agility and commitment to innovation,” says Josh. “Their collaborative spirit and technical capability allowed us to overcome significant challenges, turning ambitious concepts into practical solutions for storing shielded ZEC.” 

How to Use Zashi-Keystone 

Connecting Keystone hardware wallet to Zashi:

Signing outgoing Zashi transactions with Keystone:

Best Practices

We do not recommend importing an old seed phrase into Keystone. Instead, create a new Keystone wallet and simply send your funds to the new Keystone address. Sharing a seed phrase between wallets reduces the security of your funds. It can also result in long scanning times and funds appearing to be unavailable.

Order Your Keystone

In celebration of this milestone, Keystone is offering a 5% discount to our community. Use the promo code “Zashi” when ordering your Keystone wallet.

Looking Forward

With the successful launch of the Zashi-Keystone integration, we continue to pave the way for future advancements in Zcash technology and usability. Our commitment remains strong to providing our community with the tools they need to securely manage their assets while upholding the privacy and security standards Zashi is known for.

Happy transacting.