How to shield Zcash (move transparent ZEC to shielded)
Shielding moves ZEC from a public transparent address into an encrypted shielded pool, which since 28 July 2026 means Ironwood or Sapling. In Zodl it is one tap, Cake Wallet does it automatically, and other Ironwood-ready wallets have a shield button. The network fee is usually a fraction of a thousandth of a ZEC, such as 0.00015 ZEC for one deposit.
Quick steps
- Install an Ironwood-ready wallet. Use a shielded wallet such as Zodl, Zingo!, Cake Wallet or Zkool and back up the recovery phrase and birthday height.
- Copy the right address. Use your unified address if the sender supports it; otherwise copy the wallet's transparent receive address.
- Receive the ZEC. Withdraw from the exchange or receive from the sender, starting with a small test amount.
- Shield the funds. Tap shield in Zodl, let Cake Wallet shield automatically, or use the shield option in your wallet.
- Check the shielded balance. Confirm the funds now appear in your shielded balance before spending or moving more.
Zcash has two kinds of funds. Transparent ZEC (t1 and t3 addresses) works like Bitcoin: amounts and addresses are public. Shielded ZEC is encrypted on-chain, hiding sender, receiver, amount and memo. Shielding is the step that moves coins from the first kind to the second. Most ZEC bought on exchanges arrives transparent, so this is a step almost everyone needs.
What changed in 2026
After a flaw was found in the Orchard pool's circuit in 2026, the Ironwood upgrade (NU6.3) went live on 28 July 2026 at block 3,428,143. Ironwood is now the main shielded pool. Orchard accepts no new funds; money can only leave it through a public turnstile. Sapling still works.
For shielding, this means one thing: use an Ironwood-ready wallet. Zodl, Zingo!, Zkool, Cake Wallet, Edge, Unstoppable, Keystone and Ledger are listed as ready. Your unified address (u1...) does not change. If you still have funds in Orchard, that is a migration, not shielding; see Orchard to Ironwood.
How each wallet shields
| Wallet | How shielding works |
|---|---|
| Zodl | Shows incoming transparent funds and shields them with one tap |
| Cake Wallet | Shields automatically, straight to Ironwood since its Ironwood update; rotates transparent addresses |
| Zkool | No auto-shielding; rotates transparent addresses and you shield manually |
| Zingo! | Manual shield option; supports TEX and unified addresses |
| Ledger, Keystone | Shielded support with Ironwood (Ledger on desktop; Keystone with Zodl) |
| Trezor, Exodus, Trust Wallet and other transparent-only wallets | Cannot shield; send to a shielded wallet first |
Withdrawing from an exchange into a shielded wallet
Exchanges handle shielded addresses differently:
- Coinbase withdraws to transparent addresses only. In your wallet, find the transparent receive address (Zodl and others show it separately from the main unified address), paste it into Coinbase, and shield after the coins arrive.
- Gemini withdraws to unified addresses. It routed these to Orchard from November 2025; how it behaves since Ironwood is unverified, so send a small test first.
- Other exchanges: if the withdrawal form rejects your u1 address, use the transparent address instead.
Paste addresses into our address validator to check the type: t1 and t3 are transparent, zs1 is Sapling, u1 is unified and tex1 is TEX.
TEX addresses: paying an exchange that requires transparent funds
Some exchanges, notably Binance, require deposits to come from a transparent address. For them, Zcash created TEX addresses (ZIP 320), which start with tex1. A TEX address is a normal transparent address in a different encoding that tells your wallet the payment must come from transparent funds.
If you pay a TEX address from shielded funds, a TEX-aware wallet such as Zingo! first moves the amount to a one-time transparent address, then pays the exchange. That is two transactions and two fees. If your wallet does not accept tex1 addresses, use one that does rather than pasting a different address.
What shielding costs
Zcash fees follow ZIP-317: 5,000 zatoshi per logical action, with a minimum of two actions. Each transparent input counts as an action, so the fee grows with the number of separate deposits you are shielding.
| Example | Logical actions | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Simple shielded payment (two Ironwood actions) | 2 (minimum) | 10,000 zatoshi (0.0001 ZEC) |
| Shield one transparent deposit into two Ironwood actions | 3 | 15,000 zatoshi (0.00015 ZEC) |
| Shield five transparent deposits into two Ironwood actions | 7 | 35,000 zatoshi (0.00035 ZEC) |
To keep fees down, withdraw from an exchange in fewer, larger amounts. Work out your own case with the fee calculator.
Common problems
- The funds do not show up. Let the wallet finish syncing. If you restored from a seed, check the birthday height is not later than your first deposit; see restoring a wallet.
- The shield button is missing. Cake Wallet shields on its own while the app is open, and Zkool needs you to shield manually; check your wallet's help pages.
- The balance is in Orchard. That needs migrating through the turnstile, not shielding; follow the migration guide.
- Your wallet is YWallet. It no longer supports Zcash; restore the seed in Zkool (how).
Shielding and privacy
Shielding hides what you do after the coins enter the pool. The shielding transaction itself is visible: anyone can see that a transparent address sent a given amount into the shielded pool. Research on Zcash usage has shown that patterns, such as shielding an amount and unshielding the same amount soon after, can link transactions. Simple habits help:
- Leave coins shielded and pay from shielded funds.
- Do not unshield the same amount you just shielded straight away.
- Use a wallet with Tor (Zodl, Zkool) if you also want to hide your IP address from the light-wallet server.
Read is Zcash traceable? for the full picture.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to shield ZEC?
You do not have to, but transparent ZEC is as public as Bitcoin. Shielding is what gives Zcash its privacy.
Where does shielded ZEC go after the Ironwood upgrade?
Into the Ironwood pool, which replaced Orchard on 28 July 2026, or Sapling. Orchard no longer accepts new funds.
How much does it cost to shield ZEC?
Under the ZIP-317 rule, shielding one transparent deposit into two Ironwood actions costs 0.00015 ZEC, and each extra transparent input adds 0.00005 ZEC.
Can I withdraw from Coinbase straight to a shielded address?
No. Coinbase withdraws ZEC to transparent addresses only, so send to your wallet's transparent address and shield it there.
Why does my wallet send two transactions to a tex1 address?
TEX addresses only accept transparent funds, so a shielded wallet first moves the amount to a one-time transparent address, then pays the exchange.