© 2026 Della Group. All Rights Reserved.
Okay, first thing - download Zashi, set it up, and shield your incoming ZEC immediately. Why? Because transparent addresses are like shouting your balance from the rooftops. Shielded ones? Total ghost mode. In my experience, skipping this step is why newbies get paranoid about privacy. Zashi makes it dead simple, and you'll sleep better.
Grab it from the Play Store or App Store. Search "Zashi Wallet". Boom, installed in seconds. Now, fire it up and hit "Create New Wallet". It'll spit out a 24-word seed phrase. Write that down on paper, stash it somewhere safe - not your phone notes, dude. Lose it, and your funds vanish forever. Harsh truth.
Look, Zashi's built by the Zcash folks at Electric Coin Company, so it's laser focused on privacy. Self custody means no one's peeking at your ZEC except you. Send, receive, swap - all with shielded transactions that hide amounts, addresses, everything. The thing is, most wallets fake privacy. Zashi? Real deal, using Zcash's zk SNARKs tech under the hood.
And it's mobile only for now, Android and iOS. Super clean interface. No clutter. I usually fire it up for quick payments without thinking twice. Honest opinion: if you're into Zcash, this is your top pick. CrossPay lets you pay in ZEC but friend gets USDT or SOL. Magic.
Transparent addresses show your balance publicly. Shielded? Invisible. Use shielded for privacy, but some old apps don't support it, so fallback to transparent then shield later. Why does this matter? Chain analysis tools track transparent stuff easy. Shielded breaks the trail.
So, buy ZEC somewhere like Coinbase or Kraken - they list it. Fees? Card buys hit you with 2-4%, bank transfers cheaper around 1%. Once you've got ZEC in exchange, withdraw to Zashi.
Pro tip: Start small, like 0.1 ZEC, to test. Exchanges sometimes mess up addresses. In Zashi, shielding's a tap - select funds, "Shield", confirm. Fees around 0.0001 ZEC or so, tiny.
Sending's straightforward. Tap "Send". Paste recipient's address - theirs could be Zcash or whatever via CrossPay. Amount. Confirm. Boom.
But here's the cool part. CrossPay. You send ZEC (shielded, private), they get BTC, SOL, USDT, whatever on NEAR, Solana, etc. Fees? Like 0.023 ZEC to send 10 USDT. Pretty much negligible.
I used this last week - paid a buddy in SOL from my shielded ZEC. He had no clue it came from Zcash. Privacy win.
Want ZEC to USDT or back? Zashi's got "Swap" under More. Two ways: ZEC out, or in.
ZEC to other token: More > Swap Zcash. Amount. Pick token (USDT NEAR, SOL). Paste your external wallet address. Confirm. Tokens land there.
Other to ZEC: This one's manual but slick.
Sound familiar? It's like a DEX but private. Fees low, slippage minimal. Swapped 10 USDT to ZEC once - took 5 mins total.
Don't trust your phone for big stacks? Connect Keystone or similar.
| Step | Zashi Side | Hardware Side |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Unlock HW | Open Zashi, tap top left menu > Connect Hardware | Menu > Connect Software > Zashi > QR scan |
| 2. Scan | Scan HW QR | Confirm connect |
| 3. Use | Switch wallets via top button | Approve txns on device |
Everything works same - send, swap, whatever. Just safer. I usually keep hot wallet small, HW for rest. Switch back easy.
Paranoid? Make burners. In Zashi, More > Accounts > +. Name it "Burner1", pick Zcash. Use for one off stuff.
Trail breaks. No linking back. I do this for sketchy payments.
Lost phone? No sweat if seed's safe.
Tested it - works across devices. But never screenshot seed. Paper only.
Funds not showing? Resync chain - More > something like refresh. Or wrong network on withdraw - always Zcash mainnet.
Swap failed? Check slippage, gas on target chain (like ~0.000005 SOL). CrossPay quotes fees upfront.
App crash mid tx? Rare, but approve on HW if connected. Wait for confirms.
Shielding slow? Needs "resting" for mix - like 5-10 mins for decent privacy. Patience.
Buy direct? Zashi integrates Coinbase sometimes - buy ZEC inside app, no KYC hassle for small amounts. Check your region.
Zash keeps 'em low.
| Action | Typical Fee |
|---|---|
| Send ZEC | 0.0001 ZEC |
| Shield | 0.00005 ZEC |
| CrossPay 10 USDT | 0.023 ZEC |
| Swap to SOL | Quote shows, ~0.5-1% + chain gas |
Volatility hits ZEC price, but tx fees stable. Cheaper than ETH gas any day.
Always verify addresses twice. Use QR when possible.
For max privacy: Shield > rest > new address > repeat.
Onboard friends? Share Zashi link. They buy in app, send you ZEC, done.
Big holdings? HW connect mandatory. Phone's fine for coffee money.
What's next? Experiment with small amounts. Swap ZEC to USDC, pay someone. Feel the privacy buzz.
Others like YWallet or Zingo! are good, but Zashi's swaps and CrossPay crush 'em. Built by Zcash core team. Updates frequent - new chains added monthly. Honest? It's my daily driver. Transparent stuff elsewhere feels naked now.
One gripe: No desktop yet. Mobile life's fine though.
Seed fresh wallets often. Breaks trails better. And enable any PIN/biometrics in settings. Lazy security fails.
Tried shielding via NEAR intents once - ZEC to shielded pool, rest, boom invisible. Tutorial vids nail it.
© 2026 Della Group. All Rights Reserved.