ZSAs in NU7

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Hello Zcash community!

It’s finally happening… the NU7 upgrade is planned for 2025, the Zcash Shielded Assets ZIPs have been earmarked as being viable for inclusion, we just got a positive protocol audit from Least Authority. All teams have been working in sync to allow the Zebra project and the cryptography crates to include ZSA functionality into their official branches.

Everyone at QEDIT is very excited we reached this point, this has been a major focus of our efforts! For those who didn’t see the ZSA demo, check out our talk on how to issue, transfer and burn ZSA assets on Zebra:

The work to integrate ZSA to NU7 is planned to be supported by a monthly grant proposal, here are the main points:

We will provide a team of 7 engineers and architects working on:

  • Implementing new requirements across whole stack, starting from the ZIPs
  • Interactions with other NU7 components
  • Support with reviewing OrchardZSA with ECC
  • Maintain and adjust zcash_tx_tool to support new requirements and upstream changes

We’re budgeting a monthly cost of 105k USD for 7 engineers, with 2 months covering work already performed in November and December, and 6 months ahead of work planned, until July 1st.

QEDIT is coordinating with all Zcash teams

The Zcash Shielded Asset functionality is one of the most ambitious additions to the Zcash protocol, and one that is poised to transform the use cases of the network. Commensurate with the magnitude of this addition, our work has involved development across the entire stack of repositories that Zcash depends on, from the node (first zcashd and then Zebra), to the transaction level libraries (librustzcash and zcash_note_encryption), to the Orchard protocol and Orchard circuit (which also required additions to Halo2 functionality).

These different libraries are maintained by both the ECC and ZF, and therefore the integration of the ZSA functionality requires close co-ordination with both engineering teams. This coordination and integration also must happen in parallel with the ongoing development from the core teams. It is important that QEDIT efficiently and quickly resolves implementation questions and technical decisions along with the core teams as we keep up the NU7 momentum.

The functionality works on QEDIT’s version of Zebra node

  • As shown in the demo, we have a working version of the ZSA changes for Zebra
  • Since Zebra is not a wallet, we have created a standalone tool for V5 and V6 transaction generation - this is the zcash_tx_tool repository.
  • The circuit structure and implementation in Halo2 and the specific Orchard files, is stable and finalized.
  • The ZIPs are in good shape, with only minor changes occurring based on ZIP Editor reviews.
  • A successful external audit was conducted on the circuit and Orchard changes.

What we will need to work on next

  • We are working on the asset supply and state management within the Zebra node, along with verification of transactions in consensus.
  • We are continuing to actively maintain our zcash_tx_tool repository, which supports V6 transactions and the OrchardZSA protocol
  • We have to merge in the commits from the core team on the librustzcash crate (significant upstream changes), along with changes to zebra and orchard crates.
  • We need to implement a few of the most recent changes to the ZIPs, which have been added based on forward-looking changes, and issues raised in ZIP review.
  • We need to ensure our development works alongside the changes that are needed to incorporate the other changes and ZIPs that are also being included in NU7, such as:
    • PCZTs
    • Memo bundles
    • NSM (minor interaction)
    • Changes in the fee mechanism
    • Other potential changes
  • While being externally audited, most of our code is still being reviewed by ECC and ZF. We need to make sure all comments by the reviewers are fixed once reviewed.

The successful integration of ZSA into NU7 requires sustained effort and close collaboration between teams. Our proposal ensures we can maintain the necessary momentum and quickly address technical challenges as they arise.

We’re committed to working closely with ECC, ZF, and the broader Zcash community to make ZSAs a reality!

Best,
The QEDIT Team.

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