Glossary

The words you'll hear at a meetup, defined simply. For deep protocol terms, we link to ZecHub.

Core terms

ZEC — the unit of Zcash. What you hold and send.

Shielded — a payment where the sender, receiver, and amount are hidden from the public chain, verified with cryptography.

Transparent — a payment where those details are public, like Bitcoin.

Unified Address (UA) — one modern address that can receive from anyone and prefers the shielded pool. Share this when someone asks for your address.

Seed phrase — the list of words that backs up your wallet. Whoever has it controls the funds. Keep it offline and private. We never ask for it.

Wallet — the app that holds your ZEC and keys. Zashi, Zingo and Zodl are mobile options.

Zero-knowledge proof — the math that lets the network confirm a shielded payment is valid without seeing its details. The "zk" in Zcash.

Testnet — a practice network where coins have no value, used to learn safely.

Mainnet — the real Zcash network with real ZEC.

Community terms

IRL meetup — an in-person Zcash India gathering. Four or more people, one real conversation.

Node # — the sequential number we assign each verified meetup in a city. Your city's first verified meetup is Node #01.

New-city activation — the first ever verified meetup in a city. It lights up a brand new pin on the map.

Contributor — someone recognised for consistent, real impact in the community. Not automatic — see Contributors.

Going deeper

For protocol-level terms (Orchard, Sapling, Halo 2, network upgrades) see the thorough glossaries on ZecHub.