Zcash and NEAR Intents have been integrated, allowing users to swap Zcash (ZEC) with other top altcoins, including Bitcoin, Solana, NEAR, and XRP, without paying any fees. This integration is part of NEAR Protocol's efforts to create an infrastructure of autonomous and verifiable AI bots, which also brings benefits to Zcash by enabling AI-powered payment rails. Zcash users are now capable of accessing smart contracts and wider DeFi applications while preserving their privacy via NEAR Intents.
Maya Protocol
Maya Protocol has integrated Zcash to enhance its decentralization, liquidity, and transaction privacy. This integration allows Zcash users to benefit from decentralized swaps, giving them greater flexibility and liquidity while preserving privacy. Learn More: https://www.mayaprotocol.com/blog-maya-academy/zcash-integrates-maya
Note: It is also possible to bridge any ETH you already have to private store as Shielded Zcash using the "Release" Tab & entering your Transparent address. You may then use the 'Autoshield' in your mobile/desktop wallet. For this application to remain private it is recommended not to swap from ZEC > ETH and back from ETH > ZEC.
Kamino
Kamino is one of the leading DeFi protocols in the Solana ecosystem, providing services such as lending, borrowing, liquidity vaults, and automated liquidity management. Through integration with the Solana ecosystem, Zcash (ZEC) users can utilize Solana-based Wrapped ZEC assets to interact with various DeFi applications.
By using Solana Wrapped ZEC, users can access Kamino’s Earn and Lending features, allowing ZEC to be used as a productive asset through decentralized liquidity provision and lending mechanisms. This expands Zcash’s functionality from a private payment asset to one that can participate in decentralized financial activities.
The integration with Kamino opens up opportunities for Zcash to enter the Solana DeFi ecosystem, which features fast transactions, low fees, and a wide range of smart contract-based financial applications.
Access ZEC-backed credit on Solana. The Zcash Market on Kamino has grown to over $2M, giving ZEC holders access to USDC liquidity against $ZEC in a fully isolated market curated by @AllezLabs.
ZenRock Bridge provides a blockchain interoperability solution that enables the secure and efficient transfer of assets across networks.
In the context of Zcash, bridge technologies like ZenRock allow ZEC assets to connect with other blockchain ecosystems that support smart contracts and DeFi applications. This enables users to bring the value of Zcash to various networks without losing flexibility in how they use their assets.
Interoperability is a critical component in the development of DeFi because it allows assets from a specific blockchain to participate in a cross-network digital economy.
Solana Wrapped ZEC Ecosystem (Meteora, Orca, and Raydium)
Solana Wrapped ZEC enables Zcash to be used within the Solana ecosystem through an asset representation compatible with the Solana network standard.
With Wrapped ZEC, users can interact with various DeFi protocols such as:
Liquidity pools
Decentralized exchanges (DEX)
Yield farming
Automated market making
Protocols such as Meteora, Orca, and Raydium provide liquidity infrastructure that enables ZEC to participate in trading and liquidity provision activities.
This integration combines Zcash’s privacy advantages with the speed and efficiency of the Solana network, creating new use cases for private assets within the modern DeFi ecosystem.
THORChain is a cross-chain liquidity protocol that allows users to exchange native assets from various blockchains without relying on traditional wrapped tokens.
Through THORChain and THORSwap, users can exchange assets across blockchains, including Zcash (ZEC). This integration gives Zcash direct access to decentralized liquidity via the THORChain network, allowing users to retain the characteristics of native assets without having to use centralized intermediaries.
With the introduction of the ZEC pool on THORChain, the THORChain network now supports permissionless Zcash liquidity activities. THORChain nodes can monitor the Zcash blockchain and provide the infrastructure for cross-chain trading between ZEC and other blockchain assets.
This integration offers several benefits for the Zcash ecosystem:
Access to cross-blockchain liquidity;
ZEC trading without reliance on centralized exchanges;
Enhanced interoperability with other blockchain assets;
Expanded use of ZEC within the multichain DeFi ecosystem.
Templar Protocol is a DeFi protocol focused on developing privacy-preserving financial solutions.
By combining DeFi concepts with blockchain privacy technology, Templar Protocol aims to create financial applications that remain open while protecting users’ sensitive data.
For the Zcash ecosystem, this approach aligns with the vision of developing privacy-preserving finance based on zero-knowledge technology. The integration of privacy technology with DeFi enables the creation of financial services that are more secure, private, and user-oriented.
cbZEC brings Zcash liquidity into the Base ecosystem by allowing ZEC users to interact with various decentralized finance (DeFi) applications without having to give up their exposure to the Zcash ecosystem.
Through the Base network, cbZEC serves as a representation of ZEC that can be used within the Ethereum Layer-2 environment. This allows users to exchange assets, provide liquidity, access lending markets, and utilize various DeFi services with lower transaction fees and faster confirmations compared to the main Ethereum network.
The integration of cbZEC into various Base DeFi platforms expands Zcash’s utility from merely a payment asset to one that can be used in a wide range of decentralized financial activities.
Below are the DeFi platforms on Base that support cbZEC
Aerodrome Slipstream
Aerodrome Slipstream is one of the largest liquidity pools on the Base network. Aerodrome uses a ve(3,3) model that combines escrow voting mechanisms and liquidity incentives to create an efficient market.
Aerodrome Slipstream introduces the concept of concentrated liquidity, similar to Uniswap V3, allowing liquidity providers to specify a specific price range so that capital can be used more efficiently.
With cbZEC support, users can:
Swap cbZEC for other assets on the Base network.
Provide cbZEC liquidity to earn transaction fees.
Participate in Base’s core liquidity ecosystem.
This integration makes Aerodrome one of the primary pathways for Zcash users to access the Base DeFi market.
Uniswap V3 is one of the largest decentralized exchange protocols that uses the automated market maker (AMM) model.
On the Base network, Uniswap V3 provides a concentrated liquidity system that allows liquidity providers to allocate capital within a specific price range.
Support for cbZEC on Uniswap V3 Base allows users to:
Trade cbZEC permissionlessly.
Provide liquidity for cbZEC pairs.
Access the liquidity infrastructure used by many DeFi applications.
The concentrated liquidity model improves capital efficiency compared to traditional AMM models.
Uniswap V4 is the latest generation of the Uniswap protocol, introducing a “hooks”-based architecture.
Hooks allow developers to create additional functions within liquidity pools, such as automated trading strategies, custom fee mechanisms, and customizable pool logic.
For cbZEC, integration with Uniswap V4 opens up opportunities for:
Liquidity pools with more flexible mechanisms.
More complex DeFi strategies.
Integration with next-generation decentralized finance applications.
Uniswap V4 provides a more customizable foundation for assets like cbZEC to thrive within the Base ecosystem.
Curve Finance is a decentralized exchange designed for trading assets with similar characteristics using an AMM mechanism optimized to reduce slippage.
On the Base network, Curve provides liquidity infrastructure that can be utilized by various DeFi assets.
The integration of cbZEC with Curve enables:
Asset swaps with low slippage.
More efficient liquidity provision.
The development of a more stable cbZEC market.
Curve helps strengthen cbZEC liquidity within the Base DeFi ecosystem.
Options are currently being explored to enable DeFi applications within the Zcash ecosystem using the current Layer 1. This could be possible by perofrming most of the contract operations off-chain with a sequencer & have the validation of those actions done on chain. A version of this was created in partnership with JP Morgan on their enterprise blockchain. As of NU5 a mechanism exists (TZE) to add this type of extension to Zcash.
zkEVM
This would bring native programmability to Zcash with an EVM-compatible virtual machine that supports zero-knowledge proof computation. This would allow Zcash to find growth through a more diverse developer community and foster an ecosystem of privacy preserving applications and tokens. This would make it comparable to other existing L2 privacy solutions.
Continuing research into Proof-of-Stake & the Cosmos Interblockchain Communication Protocol is led by the ECC. Next steps are being assessed along with the success of the Ethereum Merge to PoS with any issues that may arise.
ZSA/UDA's
Zcash Shielded Assets / User Defined Assets have been in development with the assistance of a dedicated team. Following the NU5 protocol upgrade they are significantly closer to fruition. Mechanisms for trustless & private cross-chain bridging of these assets enabling interoperability are currently in the works. A link to the Zcon3 presentation on this below.
The unequivocal advantage Zcash has over other existing smart contract platforms is it's natively private Layer 1. This completely removes any possibility of information leakage while using any Layer 2 applications. Allowing for a fundamentally simpler and more secure application layer that can permission access to information much easier.
