Zcash Shielded News | Vol.6
Zashi is Becoming Zodl, ZF | Embracing AI, Protecting Privacy: How Zebra Approaches AI-Assisted Contributions, Zebra 4.1.0 Release, Zcash PFP Generator and Z3 Updates
Zcash Shielded News is a community article format based on the weekly Zcash Ecosystem Digest Newsletter.
Providing insight on current events and informing the community about important news in the Zcash ecosystem.
Check out the best Highlights below!
Fact of the Weekš”
Zcash supports viewing keys (like a Full Viewing Key) that can let someone audit incoming and outgoing shielded activity for an account without giving them spend power, useful for compliance, taxes, or shared visibility while keeping funds secure.
š© In todayās edition:
š± Zashi is Becoming Zodl
ā¢ An upcoming app update will rename Zashi to Zodl with no changes to the user experience. No action needed, just update as usual š
š¤ Embracing AI, Protecting Privacy: How Zebra Approaches AI-Assisted Contributions
ā¢ With more AI-assisted PRs coming in, Zebra is tightening contribution expectations while keeping strict human review. Updated guidelines plus AGENTS.md help align new contributions with Zebraās architecture and security constraints.
š¦ Zebra 4.1.0 Release
ā¢ Zebra 4.1.0 brings major observability upgrades with new Prometheus metrics and Grafana dashboards, stronger mempool alignment with zcashd, and deeper performance insights across sync, consensus verification, and RocksDB. No breaking changes for node operators.
š¤ Zcash PFP Generator
ā¢ A new free tool to generate Zcash-style AI profile pictures with official ecosystem badges, consistent visuals, and an edit mode after three generations. Live now at zcashpfp.xyz š
š§āš» Z3 Updates (Zcashd Deprecation Update ā Feb 13)
ā¢ Progress continues toward zcashd deprecation: outreach is paused until Zallet Alpha 4, Zebra keeps improving for exchanges and API providers, Zaino is updating for Zebra 4.1 and refining release/testing, and explorer RPC work is paused until chain_state changes settle.
Zashi is Becoming Zodl
Have a great week, Zeeps! š
Normally this update would come next week, but itās important enough that we decided to bring it into this edition.
Announced on Monday, an upcoming app update will rebrand Zashi to Zodl with no impact on the user experience. Itās a new name for a new chapter, but the wallet, the team behind it, and the commitment to Zcash all stay the same. š
For users, the key point is simple: no action is required. Thereās no need to download a new app, change a seed phrase, or move funds, just keep using the wallet as usual
With the next update, the app name will switch from Zashi to Zodl automatically.
Over the next few days, the new name will start appearing across platforms, including the Discord support channel. Updates will also live at zodl.com.
The rebrand is being led by the very same people who originally built Zcash and Zashi. After leaving ECC in January, they launched a new company called Zcash Open Development Lab (ZODL), and with it, the flagship wallet is moving forward under the name Zodl. The aim is to push ZEC adoption with greater autonomy and renewed momentum.
The mission stays unchanged: a world without mass financial surveillance, where people can transact privately and freely. The banner is different, but the purpose remains the same, getting shielded ZEC into the hands of billions.
For more info, read this.
Embracing AI, Protecting Privacy: How Zebra Approaches AI-Assisted Contributions
Dev folks and node runners, this oneās for you š
AI coding tools are reshaping how open source gets built, and Zebra is feeling that shift in a very real way. AI-assisted contributions have helped ship features faster, lowered the barrier for people new to Rust or the Zcash protocol, and supported four major releases in the last three months.
That momentum matters because Zebra is consensus and privacy-critical infrastructure. With zcashd deprecating and Network Upgrade 7 (NU7), Zebra is on track to become the networkās primary node implementation. As a result, review standards havenāt loosened every change still goes through rigorous human review to protect privacy and security.
Whatās changed is the volume of incoming pull requests. Many are thoughtful and well-scoped, but others arrive without prior coordination or without clear evidence that the author understands the change, and each PR carries a real review cost.
To keep contributions flowing while respecting maintainer time, the project is tightening expectations in a clearer, more transparent way. Contributors are asked to start with an issue and wait for acknowledgment before coding, disclose AI usage, and be ready to explain the logic and trade-offs of their work. There are also explicit criteria for closing PRs when those basics arenāt met.
On the tooling side, Zebra now includes AGENTS.md, so common AI coding agents automatically pick up project-specific architecture rules, preferred patterns, and key security constraints before generating code. The goal is simple: better submissions, fewer surprises in review, and faster iteration, without compromising on the guarantees users rely on.
If youāre building tools on top of Zebra, check out:
Zaino for indexer/lightwalletd functionality
Zallet for wallet features
librustzcash for Zcash Rust libraries
Many features that donāt belong in the consensus node have a natural home in the broader Z3 stack.
For more updates, keep an eye on Discord, X and zfnd.org
Quick reminder: ZCAP NU7 Sentiment Polling closes Fri, Feb 20, 2026 at 8:00pm UTC.
Zebra 4.1.0 Release
Zebra 4.1.0 is out, focused on stronger observability and tighter mempool alignment with zcashd, with no breaking changes for node operators.
This release expands Prometheus metrics and adds Grafana dashboards so you can quickly spot node health issues and performance bottlenecks. You now get better visibility into value pools and supply, deeper RPC tracking (counts, latency, concurrency, errors), and improved peer health signals (handshake latency and failure reasons).
It also adds key performance histograms for sync stages, per-block download and verification, plus detailed consensus batch verification timing. On the storage side, new RocksDB metrics cover disk and memory usage, write latency, and compaction activity, making database bottlenecks easier to diagnose.
For more details, see the Zebra Book, and get involved via GitHub, the Zcash Community Forum, or good first issues.
Zcash PFP Generator
You may have seen some familiar faces in the community sporting those signature Zcash-style portraits. They started as hand-drawn pieces by Iogy, inspired by the CypherPunk Zero NFT aesthetic, and for a long time, getting one meant someone had to create it manually. Now that look is available to everyone, on-demand, with plenty of room to personalize.
Earlier this week, Michael from Zcash Brazil shared a new community-built project: Zcash PFP.
The tool is live as a free web generator that creates AI-made profile pictures and places an official ecosystem badge on top, without collecting user data. The results follow a recognizable visual template (dark background, the Zcash-yellow halo, and a character in a t-shirt), which keeps things unified across the ecosystem while still letting each person show a bit of their own vibe.
After you generate three avatars, an Edit mode unlocks that lets you refine your favorite one using plain language , adjust hair color, change the expression, add small details, while keeping the character consistent.
It includes a badge set with 13 official logos from 9 Zcash ecosystem organizations, making it easy to show what project or group youāre part of. Itās also built to scale, since adding a new badge only requires uploading a transparent PNG and updating the catalog, with no redeploy needed.
Check it out now and update your profile! š
Z3 Updates (Zcashd Deprecation Update - Feb 13)
Work toward zcashd deprecation (Z3) continues, with most effort focused on getting the ecosystem stable on Zebra and unblocking the tools that depend on it. Outreach is currently paused after successfully completing the Zcashd EOS outreach, and will resume once Zallet Alpha 4 is released.
On the node side, Zebra work continues with performance improvements and coordination to meet requirements from exchanges and API providers. Zebra 4.1.0 was also released in response to issues raised by the Zallet developers, helping move wallet-side work forward.
On the tooling front, Zaino (ZingoLabs) is actively updating to support Zebra 4.1, while also wrapping up passthrough work and completing chain index integration (now in PR review). Zingo is also discussing improvements to their testing approach by adopting the RPC Testing Framework Alfredo (ZF) is building, and exploring a clearer release process - including possible dockerization - while keeping infrastructure as open as possible.
For the full-node wallet, Zallet is preparing a new release: Alpha 4 is close, with a small set of remaining RPC tasks before it ships. These include adding support for P2SH redeem script storage/handling, implementing z_sendfromaccount, and implementing z_shieldcoinbase. Zainoās Zebra 4.1 update is also part of this push, and community contributions are coming in and being reviewed.
Finally, Block Explorer support is paused temporarily to avoid rework while chain_state changes are finalized. Several explorer RPCs remain pending (including gettxoutsetinfo, getblockhash, getblockhashes, and getnetworkinfo), one is in review (z_validateaddress), and multiple items are already done (getblockdeltas, getaddressdeltas, and getblockheader).
Others
Update: New Version of Zingo-PC
Rebrand + major cleanup/refactor so install/build/start and core sync/sending flows are working again (with multiple performance fixes).
UX upgrades: improved modals/settings, clearer amounts, address validation, receive screen improvements, copy-to-clipboard, and better āblocks behindā status.
Feature updates: new zingolib v1.0.0 fixes, UFVK wallet creation, shield button + āshield allā (transparent ā Orchard/Unified), plus server/chain fixes and updated server list.
Zcash Browser Wallet Library UPDATE - @ColinSchwarz
The MetaMask Zcash Snap 6.1 update is now live in production, resolving the 6.1-related user issues.
Key changes include upgraded NU6.1-compatible Rust crates, safer upgrades (no crashes on incompatible data), more reliable gRPC sync with retries, and improved account recovery.
New features: transaction history and pending transaction tracking for more accurate balances.
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