[Grant Update] Zcash Shielded Assets Monthly Updates

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Dear Zcash Community,

We are happy to share with you some exciting updates on the testnet front! Note that in parallel, work on the development to support the NU7 upgrade is progressing apace, and you can check out updates to that on this separate forum thread.

ZSA Testnet

We have set up a zebra node on an AWS ECS instance. It is possible to connect to this node and submit your own transactions through the zcash_tx_tool that we have been developing here. What follows below are some more details on getting started with this testnet:

  • The URL of the testnet is: http://dev.zebra.zsa-test.net

  • In order to connect to our running node, you can follow these steps:

    • Get the zcash_tx_tool docker image: you can get it from our public repository at public.ecr.aws/j7v0v6n9/tx-tool, or you can build it yourself from the repository.

    • When you start the docker container, make sure you pass the following 3 parameters to ensure you are connecting to the node:

      If you are using the image from our public repository, you can do so in the following way:

            docker run --pull=always \
        -e ZCASH_NODE_ADDRESS=dev.zebra.zsa-test.net \
        -e ZCASH_NODE_PORT=18232 \
        -e ZCASH_NODE_PROTOCOL=http \
        public.ecr.aws/j7v0v6n9/tx-tool:latest

      UPDATE: We now have included the ability to connect to the testnet via HTTPS as well! The way to do this looks like the following (we use “https” for the protocol and “443” for the port):

            docker run --pull=always \
         -e ZCASH_NODE_ADDRESS=dev.zebra.zsa-test.net \
         -e ZCASH_NODE_PORT=443 \
         -e ZCASH_NODE_PROTOCOL=https \
         public.ecr.aws/j7v0v6n9/tx-tool:latest

    • Thats it! The docker container should start running, printing something that looks like the following:

      Using NetworkConfig: node_address = dev.zebra.zsa-test.net ; node_port = 18232 ; protocol = http
2025-05-08T08:07:23.864492Z  INFO zcash_tx_tool::components::transactions: Starting sync from height 1
u...
....
....
2025-05-08T08:08:58.961540Z  INFO zcash_tx_tool::commands::test_balances: === Balances after burning ===
2025-05-08T08:08:58.961625Z  INFO zcash_tx_tool::commands::test_balances: AssetBase: 1514e07f
2025-05-08T08:08:58.961634Z  INFO zcash_tx_tool::commands::test_balances: Account 0 balance: 990
2025-05-08T08:08:58.961638Z  INFO zcash_tx_tool::commands::test_balances: Account 1 balance: 1

  • Upon startup, the tool first synchronizes the entire chain. This synchronization occurs before any testing begins.

  • After synchronization completes, the test will mint new addresses with random descriptions and transfer specified amounts of assets.

  • We also run the tool regularly in our zcash_tx_tool Github repository using Github Actions, so you can see it running there!

This corresponds to Milestone #1 of the Asset Swaps and Beyond Grant! As always, please let us know of any comments or issues you have.

Best,
The QEDIT Team.

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