# Introducing Noir Protocol : A multi-token economy and DeFi for ZEC holders, while Zcash stays ZEC-only **URL:** \ **Category:** General\ **Created:** [September 29, 2026, 2:55pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/introducing-noir-protocol-a-multi-token-economy-and-defi-for-zec-holders-while-zcash-stays-zec-only/57889 "2026-09-29T14:55:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![noir\_wallet](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/noir_wallet/32/44891_2.png) [@noir\_wallet](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/noir_wallet)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 2:55pm UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/introducing-noir-protocol-a-multi-token-economy-and-defi-for-zec-holders-while-zcash-stays-zec-only/57889/1 "2026-09-29T14:55:05Z")
![8e662a34-d32a-4f1e-b42a-a82c39a34a30](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/original/3X/d/8/d84fb31f623a0384ce7baa2b1d6ea3d6e26e721e.jpeg) _ **Zcash is the ultimate privacy-preserving store of value.** _ Now that it is scaling (thanks to incredible efforts of various contributors), we believe it is time it also becomes the ultimate privacy-preserving transaction facilitator. _ **That means giving ZEC holders more ways to access, use, and connect ZEC with other financial products, without asking Zcash itself to change.** _ ### Introducing Noir Protocol Noir is a programmable privacy complement to Zcash. It gives ZEC holders private access to Zcash-anchored tokens and DeFi, entirely from within NoirWallet, as a practical step toward the private multi-asset economy that ZSAs originally set out to bring on-chain. We’re the team behind Noir Wallet, live on Zcash mainnet since May 2026. #### ZEC as the only asset on Zcash Zcash the chain is for ZEC. Much of the pushback on ZSAs has been about preserving this, and we agree. Adding more assets and functionality to the chain splits attention, adds complexity and attack surface, and risks state bloat. Noir keeps other assets and computation off Zcash. It needs no change to Zcash consensus, and 100% of Zcash’s transaction throughput stays with ZEC. Noir’s only footprint on Zcash is a small periodic checkpoint (a 45-byte OP\_RETURN) that anchors Noir’s history to Zcash rather than to our servers. #### ZSAs as additional assets, via Noir While the focus should stay on ZEC, users do want and occasionally need to interact with other assets, ranging from stablecoins, tokenized assets of various forms, and even memecoins. Noir enables the issuance of privacy-preserving assets that can be paired with and transacted through ZEC. _ **Additionally, if the community ever decides to push for ZSAs on mainnet, the Noir team will implement a trust-minimized bridge for them using NEAR’s Omnibridge tech.** _ #### Increased access through Zcash ZEC has become increasingly accessible due to Zodl, NEAR Intents, and other avenues. This can be expanded even further by creating liquidity with new stablecoins (non-USD) that can be on-ramped through existing financial apps like Revolut, and even some banks (SoFi, Column, Erebor). As the ZEC holder base grows, so does demand for using other assets while continuing to hold ZEC. Through Noir, you’ll be able to borrow against your ZEC on lending protocols and use that liquidity on NEAR Intents, Hyperliquid, Polymarket, and other products to reach tokenized equities, prediction markets, and more, without selling your ZEC or exposing a full DeFi identity. #### Products first, open protocol underneath Noir is being built to deliver specific products for Zcash users: private swaps, private token trading and holdings, private lending and borrowing, private perps, private prediction markets, and ZEC-backed DeFi. The Noir core team builds these products. The protocol underneath is open to other builders, because we believe this technology should be as permissionless as possible. _Other Zcash wallets will be able to connect through an SDK._ That said, the core team won’t run ecosystem-building programs. Our effort goes into products and partnerships that serve Zcash users. ### Core Design Noir Protocol separates funds, authorization, public execution, and final holdings into four layers, with a network-privacy layer (the Zero Indexer by Shielded Labs , detailed below) sitting underneath both execution paths: ![Noir Protocol architecture overview: identities, Zero-Indexer, and execution paths](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/original/3X/1/1/117c42d7e3ddda60e5b3cdd868f6e3eecb7a6cb3.png) ![Screenshot 2026-09-29 at 22.33.57](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/original/3X/7/0/702ce4a842ec4916965e329df42950869cda4e2d.png) For DeFi that can’t run confidentially yet, Noir splits the trade across freshly created one-time accounts. Each belongs to a single trade, and the proceeds return to the Confidential Account automatically. The public chain sees ordinary accounts trading. It can’t tell which accounts share a user, how much any user bought in total, or who ends up holding the tokens. **What you’re trusting:** The TEE relay isolates metadata but never holds keys or funds, and the operator that submits transactions can’t alter a signed action. While assets sit in the Confidential Account, they rely on NEAR’s Confidential Intents infrastructure. The full trust model is in the design post. Thanks to @antonleviathan who are open to support us with Caution Hosting A detailed design post can be found here: [GitHub - NoirWallet/NoirProtocol · GitHub](https://github.com/NoirWallet/NoirProtocol) ### Vision Our goal is for Noir Protocol to become the reference path from _Zcash-as-a-single-privacy-asset_ to _Zcash-as-a-private-multi-asset-economy_, proving out, in production, the token and DeFi experience the community is anticipating from native ZSA, and handing that experience off cleanly once ZSA activates. Users should never need to leave NoirWallet, manage a NEAR wallet, expose a long-term DeFi address, reveal their token holdings, or withdraw final funds to a transparent address, with four categories of information hidden as much as possible throughout: who you are, where your funds are, what you are doing, and where the request came from. NoirWallet will serve as the first reference wallet for Noir Protocol, with an SDK planned to let other Zcash wallets and applications connect to this privacy execution layer over time. #### We’d like your feedback This is an early look, and we want to build it with the community. What do you like, what concerns you, and what would you want Noir to do first? We’ll respond to every reply here. ---
**Author:** ![noir\_wallet](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/zcash/user_avatar/forum.zcashcommunity.com/noir_wallet/32/44891_2.png) [@noir\_wallet](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/u/noir_wallet)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 1:57am UTC](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/introducing-noir-protocol-a-multi-token-economy-and-defi-for-zec-holders-while-zcash-stays-zec-only/57889/3 "2026-09-30T01:57:01Z")
Hi there, we’ve been coordinating, consolidating and gathering feedback from existing Zcash contributors for the past two weeks (since mid-September) and aimed to push this on forum and X today Sorry if we haven’t given your idea the attention it deserves. If there’s room for us to collaborate, we’d love to hear more from you. TG @aescobar0g or this forum DM works