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zcash.school

Get a private Zcash wallet in 60 seconds

Speak friend and enter.

You’re 60 seconds away from a private Zcash wallet. We’ll use Zashi because it’s the cleanest path, shielded by default, no settings to fiddle with, built by the team that built Zcash.

Step 1: Install Zodl (formerly Zashi)

Section titled “Step 1: Install Zodl (formerly Zashi)”

Pick your phone:

Zodl for iPhone App Store · the wallet formerly called Zashi, by ZODL
Zodl for Android Google Play · the wallet formerly called Zashi, by ZODL

If you’d rather not use Zodl, scroll to alternate wallets below. The rest of these steps look similar in every modern Zcash wallet.

Step 2: Create a new wallet

Section titled “Step 2: Create a new wallet”

Open Zashi. Tap Create new wallet.

You’ll see a screen with 24 words. This is your seed phrase. It is the only thing that can recover your wallet if you lose your phone.

  • Write it on paper. Pen, paper, no screenshot.
  • Store it somewhere only you can reach. Not a shared photo album. Not a Notes app that syncs to iCloud.
  • Confirm the words when the app asks you to.

Step 3: Find your Unified Address

Section titled “Step 3: Find your Unified Address”

In Zashi, tap Receive. You’ll see a long string of letters and numbers that starts with u1...: that’s your Unified Address (UA).

A UA is the modern Zcash address format. It bundles multiple receivers (Orchard, Sapling, transparent) into one string, and the sender’s wallet picks the most private one both sides support. If you want to know more, read Addresses, but for now, just copy it.

The first three characters are always u1. If yours doesn’t start with u1, you’re probably looking at a transparent address. Tap around until you find the unified one.

Step 4: Claim your $5 at the next ZNS event

Section titled “Step 4: Claim your $5 at the next ZNS event”

Bring two things:

  1. Your phone with Zashi installed and a u1… address visible.
  2. Yourself, to an event or office hours.

We’ll send $5 worth of ZEC to your address on the spot. It should arrive shielded, no amount, sender, or recipient visible on-chain. The whole thing takes about a minute.

🪙 Claim $5 in ZEC The form for the airdrop. Bring your u1… address.

See the schedule of upcoming events →

Alternate wallets

Section titled “Alternate wallets”

Zashi is the recommendation for newcomers. Two strong alternatives if you want different trade-offs:

Ywallet: power user Multi-pool, multi-account, hardware-wallet integration on some platforms. iOS / Android / Desktop.
Nighthawk: shielded-first Community-built, mobile, same shielded-by-default ethos as Zashi with a different UI.

If you’re on desktop and want a long-standing option, see Zecwallet Lite, note it’s Sapling-only no Orchard support.

Read the full wallet comparison at /using/wallets.

What just happened

Section titled “What just happened”

You installed a Zcash wallet. The wallet generated a 24-word seed locally on your phone, derived a Unified Address from it, and now waits for incoming transactions. Your seed never left your device. Zashi doesn’t have it. The App Store doesn’t have it. We don’t have it.

That’s the difference between self-custody and an exchange. If you’ve only ever used an exchange before, this is the moment to notice that your money is now actually yours.

Homework: shield every last ZEC.