Zakura proposes quantum-resistant privacy fix for Zcash

4.6 Tech

Oct 19, 2026

Zakura proposes one-time viewing keys for Zcash swaps to limit quantum privacy risks. The interim fix is under review and will be replaced by the Tachyon upgrade.

Zakura, the team behind Zcash node and wallet development, has proposed a wallet-level update to mitigate privacy risks from future quantum computers. Their proposal introduces one-time or per-swap viewing keys for shielded Zcash addresses used in NEAR Intents cross-chain swaps. Currently, all diversified addresses from a Zcash account share a single incoming viewing key. This means a powerful quantum computer could potentially recover the key and link all payments to that account. Zakura’s new design assigns a unique viewing key to each swap, so if a shielded address is published on-chain, only that specific payment could be exposed, not the entire transaction history. This approach does not require changes to Zcash’s consensus rules and leaves spending authority unchanged. The proposal is under review as an interim solution until the upcoming Tachyon upgrade, which will address these privacy concerns more comprehensively. Wallets using Zakura’s open-source libraries are expected to adopt the feature soon, with hardware wallet support to follow.