A Path Forward for Ledger and Zcash

Community Grants
156

Hi everyone,

I’m an early Zcash adopter with a real-world case that I hope can be considered in the scope of the new Ledger integration grant.

My situation:

  • Device: Original Ledger Nano S (functional, PIN known)

  • Amount: 100 ZEC (~€40,000)

  • Address: t1ZsfDa4kpk8aYjffUgv149suF2i54hLH4P

  • Transaction date: May 25, 2018 — one month BEFORE Overwinter activation

  • Problem: Pre-Overwinter UTXOs (v1 transaction format)

  • Critical issue: Recovery phrase lost

What I’ve tried:

  1. Ledger Live + Zcash app → bad-tx-consensus-branch-id-mismatch

  2. Zondax ZecWallet + Zcash Shielded → doesn’t find pre-Overwinter UTXOs

  3. Contacted Zondax → confirmed no solution for v1 format

  4. Contacted Ledger support → confirmed Zkool solution requires Nano S Plus (Zcash Shielded on original Nano S doesn’t support NU6)

The problem:

Ledger’s official guide for recovering old UTXOs (v1, v2, v3) via Zkool + Zcash Shielded app only works on Nano S Plus, Flex, and Stax. The original Nano S has an outdated Zcash Shielded version that doesn’t support NU6.

Without my seed phrase, I cannot migrate to a newer device. The private key is locked inside the Secure Element.

My question to ZCG:

Will the new Ledger Zcash grant ($300k) include support for spending pre-Overwinter transparent UTXOs?

Early adopters who bought ZEC in 2016-2018 are affected. The amounts can be significant. Without seed phrase recovery, these funds are permanently locked unless Ledger adds support for v1 transactions on original Nano S — or provides another technical solution.

I am willing to fund development up to €40,000 if a solution is technically feasible.

I’ve also opened a GitHub issue with ZKool developer: https://github.com/hhanh00/zkool2/issues/972

Thank you for your attention.

Andrey

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