Noir Wallet — Progress Recap (May–June 2026)
A recap of Noir Wallet’s rollout over the past month for anyone who hasn’t been following closely.
Noir (zknoir.com) is a self-custodial Chrome extension wallet built by part of the Rhea Finance team and supported by Zcash Community Grants. Its goal is to give Zcash a real home in DeFi — connecting a shielded ZEC wallet directly to DApps instead of relying on QR codes and manual transfers.
The Noir Wallet is now PUBLICLY LIVE on Mainnet in Chrome Extension version 1.0.22
What it is
Privacy wallets already exist, but Zcash hasn’t had a true DeFi entry point. Noir bundles shielded transactions, cross-chain swaps, lending/borrowing, and DApp connections into a single browser extension — all while keeping users inside Zcash’s privacy layer. It’s self-custodial, with Zcash at the core and native support for EVM, Solana, and Bitcoin.
Timeline of milestones
May 19–20 — Private beta announced. The first browser extension wallet bringing shielded privacy and native ZECFi to Zcash, backed by Zcash Community Grants.
May 26–27 — Public mainnet launch. Went live as a Chrome extension wallet, launching with ZEC lending as a headline feature.
May 28 — ZECFi goes live. One-click supply of $ZEC as collateral and in-wallet swaps with no bridges — powered by Rhea Finance, NEAR Intents, and NEAR Protocol’s chain abstraction.
June 1 — Privacy architecture detailed. A three-address model: a transparent address for deposits/withdrawals, a second transparent address to sign transactions, and a shielded address to shield $ZEC. The stated aim is privacy across the entire execution flow, not just the asset layer.
June 3 — V1 SDK released. A TypeScript SDK (noir-wallet-sdk, public on GitHub) lets DApps add native Zcash wallet support: wallet detection/connection, shielded + transparent address access, silent connection checks, message signing for auth/identity/DID, and privacy-preserving public keys.
June 6 — ZcashNames partnership. A collaboration to improve UX for transferring ZEC via name resolution (beta at zcashnames.com/beta/noir).
June 10 — Rhea X Chain integration. Native Zcash transaction support via Rhea Finance’s X Chain, bundling Swap, Lend & Borrow, Earn, and Perp Trading into a single wallet.
June 16 — Chrome Web Store listing + v1.0.22. Listed on the Chrome Web Store. The update added RPC/explorer switching, transparent address payment records, and improved automatic recovery for sync issues. A separate flow lets users supply $ZEC, borrow $USDC, and open positions on Rhea’s Perp Market while keeping ZEC upside.
June 18 — LeoDEX integration. In-browser Swap, Send, and Pay for $ZEC, with native transaction signing on Zcash.
The throughline across all of it: “Financial privacy is the floor, not the ceiling.” Noir is being framed as the privacy application layer that links Zcash to the wider DeFi ecosystem.
Get it at zknoir.com.