Widening the Aperture. ECC update

Ecosystem Updates
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ap
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For years, those building Zcash have focused on delivering the most secure and hardened means of storing and spending private wealth. Recently, we widened the aperture.

When we launched in 2016, users had to use a command line on a powerful laptop and then wait a few minutes to create a shielded transaction. We solved that problem in 2018, and yet ZEC itself largely remained in its own self-contained universe.

And so, in 2024, ECC released its wallet, Zashi. With it, we are building a no-friction user experience for private money, available to everyone everywhere. This allowed us to be highly opinionated about the user experience for ZEC. And to be available to everyone everywhere, we needed access to sufficient liquidity and services.

In photography, to let more light in, you widen the aperture. Without it, it is impossible to capture the magic of all stars across the night sky. But if you do it wrong, you lose focus on objects in the foreground.

The market is telling us people want to encrypt their money. After years of experimentation and distractions, many are returning to where it all started. It is possible because we now have usable tools and liquidity. We reached an inflection point. Mert is right.

mert
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Access to shielded ZEC has never been easier. But I am not satisfied. There are still too many points of friction.

We have a lot to improve in Zashi, including usability, security, and performance. We need L1 scalability. We need more services, including globally accessible on- and off-ramps. And encrypted Zcash should be widely available.

To get there, we continue to widen our aperture. NEAR Intents delivered access and liquidity. Same with Maya. Gemini’s support for Orchard enables shielded withdrawals using the latest Zcash cryptography. We must bring in even more devs and establish more alliances with convicted builders who are also committed to reducing friction.

But in widening the aperture, we must not lose sight of our immediate focus. For ECC, that means delivering a world-class user experience for accessing, storing, and spending ZEC. We will deepen Zashi’s capabilities without compromising the user experience and lean into the work necessary to bring about “encrypted money at planetary scale.” All else is noise.

By focusing on what people want and ruthlessly removing friction, creating content and spreading the word, and onboarding those around us, we are putting a “dent in the universe.”

Here’s where we focused this week:

Zashi

What we did:

  • We tested the prototype of ephemeral transparent addresses, but with shielded support coming to NEAR sooner than expected, we deprioritized the production implementation.

  • We released Zashi 2.4.7 with bug fixes, hidden fund discovery mechanism for troubleshooting, and other improvements. :rocket:

  • Zashi 2.4.8 is already underway!

  • We made progress on several UX/UI design improvements.

  • We started exploring a deeper redesign of core functionalities.

What’s up next:

  • WIP: Zashi 2.4.8 with more fixes, Resync and Disconnect features for Keystone, and other improvements.

  • Review finalized designs for Transparent Address Rotation, Ledger Hardware Wallet support, and Multi-Account support.

  • Finalize open designs for Duress/Decoy Wallet features and prepare them for review.

iOS Analytics

  • Unique Installs: 24k (3.6k increase)

  • ​​​​​Total Downloads: 27.6k (3.9k increase)

  • ​​​​​​​​​AppStore Rating: 4.9* (unchanged)

Android Analytics

  • Total Install Base: 11.8k (3.25k increase)

  • Total Installs (incl. Open Beta): 32.4k (3k increase)

  • ​PlayStore Rating: 4.25* (0.094 decrease)

Swap Analytics

  • Swap volume (to date): 410k ZEC (+157k)

  • Avg volume per day (to date): 7.9k ZEC (-.5k)

Zcash Core

What we did:

What’s up next:

  • Review of transparent input/output additions to lightwalletd

  • Orchard crate review

  • Zashi support for ephemeral address integration & testing

  • Keystone P2SH integration

  • Zallet next steps

  • Including support for coinbase transactions (librustzcash#1893 has the librustzcash side)

Other:

We are working through some internal organizational changes to help us to better align and execute. More to come.

Participated in BA’s Privacy Technology Hill Day; See photos.

Began interviewing candidates for a Zashi Support and Community Manager and scheduling candidates for a Zashi Partnerships role.

Coordination with Gemini on their Orchard announcement.

That’s all for this week!

All the light,

Onward.

14 Likes
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Thanks for the update. What does “shielded support coming to NEAR sooner than expected” mean in practice, when is this expected to be available?

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I don’t want to speak for them publicly, but https://x.com/AlexAuroraDev/status/1987125895140651072?s=20

I’m confident enough with their current progress and focus that I was willing to put ephemeral addresses on hold as they introduce potential issues due to gap limits due to the nature of swaps with NEAR.

1 Like
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I mean that’s of course your call, but given how really bad the privacy situation around swaps is currently, this tweet sounds too vague as “good enough” to address a highest-priority bug. Most people don’t know that they don’t have privacy swapping, and I think this is going to hurt someone really bad earlier or later. To be honest, any possible issue with those ephemeral addresses would still be better than the status quo.

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I know you’re pumping the brakes on ephemeral address support, but is there a spec published anywhere I could read? I’ve been brainstorming other ways to solve t-addr reuse, and I want to make sure I’m not missing something :sweat_smile:

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It’s not really a bug. If you really care about your privacy that’s the first thing you’d look at.

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Oh yes it is. If a privacy-first app leaks extremely private information (the tainted t-address) to third parties without user consent that’s a major bug.

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Loved the update, @ElectricCoinCo! :rocket:

Zcash’s evolution is a masterclass in focus and execution: from CLI in 2016 to Zashi in 2024 — with smooth UX, 157k ZEC in swaps, and 24k iOS installs. This isn’t just a product, it’s freedom infrastructure.

100% agree on balancing aperture (NEAR, Maya, Gemini) with laser focus on the core: shielded ZEC, usable, global. Ephemeral addresses, Ledger support, multi-account, duress wallets — every feature is a brick in the bridge between privacy and adoption.

And the best part? You’re listening to the market: people want to encrypt their money. The inflection point is here. Mert is right — but ECC is building it.

Can’t wait for Zashi 2.4.8 and beyond.
If you need someone obsessed with support, community, and organic growth (and living this since 2016), I’m ready. :speech_balloon::locked:

9

I don’t mean to be rude (and please correct me if I’m wrong) but your message sounds AI generated.

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10

Not really, but in the queue.

1 Like