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Zcash

Zcash Shielded Assets (ZSAs): The OrchardZSA Protocol

DesignImplementation

QEDIT designed and built OrchardZSA — the protocol that brings user-defined assets (stablecoins, tokens, NFTs) into Zcash's shielded pool with the same privacy as ZEC.

OrchardZSA is a full protocol, not a feature. Extending Zcash's Orchard shielded protocol, OrchardZSA defines new issuance keys and asset identifiers, a note and commitment structure for custom assets, a version-6 transaction format, consensus rules for supply tracking and finalization, and an updated fee model — specified across two interdependent ZIPs, ZIP 226 (transfer and burn) and ZIP 227 (issuance).

Funded by several Zcash Community Grants over five years, independently audited by Least Authority, and being merged into Zcash's consensus-critical crates ahead of the NU7 upgrade, ZSAs are among the most substantial protocol design efforts we've undertaken.

For the complete technical reference — specifications, audits, research threads, tooling, and talks — see the ZSA Hub.