A Path Forward for Ledger and Zcash

Community Grants
146

Have there been any updates about this? I’m looking forward to shielded Zcash on my Ledger

2 Likes
147

:face_in_clouds:

1 Like
148

surprise surprise…

149

From looking at the Ledger Live repository it still looks actively in development.

CleanShot 2026-04-11 at 20.30.35@2x
CleanShot 2026-04-11 at 20.30.35@2x2702×1060 361 KB

1 Like
150

And this is the app repo…

1 Like
151

A direct partner with Ledger sounds good, but I think the key thing here is accountability over optimism. We’ve already seen what happens with loosely owned integrations. If Ledger is stepping in directly, there needs to be a clear scope. What exactly gets delivered, the shielded support timeline, maintenance guarantees and who owns failures when things break again.

Also worth saying shielded support isn’t optional long-term. Supporting ZEC but effectively forcing transparent usage defeats the whole point. If this is done right, it’s a huge unlock, especially for institutional confidence, but it needs to be treated like core infrastructure instead of another integration.

153

Cross posting this update from Ledger.

3 Likes
154

Hi everyone,

I’m Abhi, part of Ledger’s Coin & Blockchain Integration team. I’m taking over external communication for this integration from Victor (@vf-ledger), who recently left Ledger.

Current integration status:

Zcash Device App

  • Implementation of UFVK sharing and Orchard Unified Address generation in the device app is complete. The OS release (including ZIP-32 support) has been rolled out to 50% on April 22nd, after which we will conduct final testing and proceed with the 100% release.
  • We have initiated work on Orchard transactions and Clear-sign, including Orchard-to-Orchard (private send), Orchard-to-transparent, and transparent-to-Orchard. A significant portion of the work remains, and completion is currently targeted for mid-May, subject to progress.

Ledger Wallet (Desktop)

  • The synchronization process is complete, and the next phase is dedicated to intensive performance and UI testing. At this point, we are able to sync and decrypt the full Zaino node (since Orchard birth) in under 65 minutes as a benchmark. Actual performance will vary depending on the user’s hardware.
  • Transaction crafting for the different flows (Public, Private, Public → Private, Private → Public) is currently being worked on.

Full scope release

We’ll share an updated launch ETA in our May update. We are targeting end of July for the release of the full scope.

For anyone who would rather follow real-time progress than wait for monthly summaries, active development is visible in public LedgerHQ repositories:

Next update by end of May 2026.

Note:

The existing transparent Zcash app on Nano S will not receive further updates. Nano S has been deprecated for some time, and per Ledger’s policy we no longer publish app updates for it outside of exceptional cases such as security fixes. Reference: https://support.ledger.com/article/Ledger-Nano-S-Limitations

For users with ZEC on a Nano S, the path is migration to a supported device (Nano S+, Nano X, Flex, Stax, Nano Gen5).

Abhi,
Product | Coin & Blockchain Integration | Ledger

11 Likes
155

If you don’t intend to support the Nano S, you should remove the app from your store. Since Nu6.1, it stopped working.

5 Likes
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

1 Like
157

Ledger dropped support for Nano S. The new app will not support it.

1 Like
158

i wonder how many others there might be with similar problem in future that dont know this is an issue. :grimacing:

159

True, but I cannot stress more how important it is too backup the seed phrase. Devices break, lost, obsolete, etc. The seed phrase is the only thing that lasts “forever”.

4 Likes
160

Recovered 101 ZEC from an original Ledger Nano S after 8 years (PIN known, seed lost, UTXOs from 2018 — pre-Overwinter). zkool/Ywallet showed the balance, but signing failed with
InvalidExternalSignature: in Zondax/ledger-zcash (app/src/refactor/sighash.c) CONSENSUS_BRANCH_ID_NU6 is hardcoded into the outer personalization, while header_digest uses the current bid
from the PCZT — that asymmetry breaks host-side verify after each network upgrade. Fix: edit the constant to the current network branch_id (0x4DEC4DF0), make buildS && make loadS with
ledgerblue, sideload to Nano S — zkool then signs cleanly. Proper fix is reading the bid dynamically from the buffer instead of hardcoding it; until that lands, the app has to be rebuilt
at every NU. Credit to Claude (Anthropic) for the diagnosis: it spotted the hardcoded outer personalization in the source and proved it in Python by ECDSA-verifying the signatures against
reconstructed sighash variants — exact hit.

10 Likes