Cake Wallet’s Bold Move: Unlocking Zcash Privacy and Seamless Swaps—What This Means for Crypto Users
Ever wonder what it takes for a crypto wallet to truly master privacy and usability in today’s bustling digital economy? Cake Wallet, already famed as the first open-source Monero wallet for iOS, just sweetened the deal by integrating shielded Zcash—with features like autoshielding, rotating transparent addresses, background sync, and passphrase wallets—all powered by the innovative NEAR Intents for effortless cross-chain swaps. Launched by privacy advocate Vikrant Sharma back in 2018, Cake Wallet has consistently pushed boundaries to keep your financial privacy intact while juggling the practicalities of multi-coin management. Meanwhile, with ZEC trading at $418 and XMR at a thriving $716, the stakes in privacy coin dominance have never been higher. Curious how this update reshapes the privacy landscape and your crypto experience? Dive into the full scoop right here — LEARN MORE.
Key Notes
- Key Zcash features include: shielded by default, rotation for transparent addresses, background sync, passphrase wallet, and cross-chain swaps powered by NEAR Intents.
- Cake Wallet was the first open-source Monero wallet for iOS, founded in 2018 by Vik Sharma, a known privacy advocate and supporter.
- ZEC is trading at $418, ranked 17th by CoinMarketCap, while XMR is trading at $716, up 50% in a week, ranked 11th.
Cake Wallet—a multichain crypto hot wallet for mobile and desktop and one of the most used and recommended light wallets for Monero
XMR
$675.3
24h volatility:
4.3%
Market cap:
$12.54 B
Vol. 24h:
$350.77 M
—has added support for shielded Zcash
ZEC
$403.9
24h volatility:
6.6%
Market cap:
$6.67 B
Vol. 24h:
$662.77 M
with other privacy-focused features and NEAR Intents-powered swaps on Jan. 15, 2026.
The wallet was created eight years ago, in January 2018. It was launched as the first open-source Monero wallet for iOS, founded by Vikrant Sharma with a mission to make financial privacy and self-custody accessible to everyone. Cake Wallet has been working towards that goal adding support for other privacy coins and features like Bitcoin
BTC
$95 270
24h volatility:
1.0%
Market cap:
$1.90 T
Vol. 24h:
$52.60 B
silent payments, Litecoin
LTC
$71.85
24h volatility:
3.5%
Market cap:
$5.51 B
Vol. 24h:
$883.10 M
MWEB, and more.
Now, the official account has announced the Zcash integration with shielded addresses being the default setup. Yet, users can opt to use transparent addresses and, in this case, Cake Wallet has implemented a transparent address rotation function that will provide a new transparent Zcash address each time users request them, which strengthens their privacy even when using the non-private address.
Adding up to that, Cake Wallet offers background blockchain sync and passphrase wallets, which improve the user experience and security, respectively. Moreover, the team has implemented the NEAR Intents framework for in-app swaps, leveraging the cross-chain infrastructure that has been receiving significant support in the industry, seen exponential growth in adoption, volume, and fee revenue.
1/ ✨ Zcash has officially joined the Cake family. 🍰
Here’s what’s new 👇
🛡️ Zcash support — autoshielding, rotating t-addresses, background sync, passphrase wallets, and more
🔄 NEAR Intents DEX — swap cross-chain privately, cheaply, quicklyLet’s take a closer look 🧵 pic.twitter.com/eTsA79rnEb
— Cake Wallet (@cakewallet) January 15, 2026
Commenting on the implementation, Seth for Privacy, Cake Wallet’s vice president (VP) highlighted that Zcash transactions “can be private and straightforward” if “done right.”
“While Monero continues to be the king of privacy coins and the center of what we do at Cake, Zcash has an entirely different community and presence, with many of their users not wanting to use Monero for different reasons,” Seth continued. “As a part of our push for human freedom and flourishing, we saw a gap in providing best-case privacy for those Zcash-centric users, and want to be sure that they can have top-tier privacy and easily move in and out of other cryptocurrencies at a tap.”
One of the core things I’ve been consistent about over the years is that – if done right – Zcash’s transactions can be very private and straightforward.
The beauty of being able to build this ourselves is that every Zcash user in @cakewallet will get the best privacy Zcash has… https://t.co/oiSe65x0L6
— Seth For Privacy (@sethforprivacy) January 15, 2026
Monero (XMR) and Zcash (ZEC) Price Analysis
Zcash had an expressive growth in 2025, covered by Coinspeaker in multiple pieces highlighting the growing support and market capitalization for now one of the leading privacy-focused cryptocurrencies. Monero, however, has recently taken back its leadership in the segment, price-wise, while remaining one of the most-used privacy coins by onchain transaction volume.
As of this writing, XMR is the number-one privacy coin, ranking 11th on CoinMarketCap with a $13.21 billion capitalization, trading at $716—up 57% in a week and 72% in a month. ZEC is currently trading at $418, down 1.81% in a week and up 2.7% in a month—going with a $6.9 billion market cap, ranking 17th in the index.
Crypto market cap ranks 10th to 18th and data as of Jan. 15, 2026 | Source: CoinMarketCap
Cake Wallet’s implementation comes with a notable timing as Zashi, Zcash’s most popular shielded wallet, goes through a governance dispute between a non-profit organization, Bootstrap, and the former Electric Coin Co. (ECC) staff, led by Josh Swihart.
Disclaimer: Coinspeaker is committed to providing unbiased and transparent reporting. This article aims to deliver accurate and timely information but should not be taken as financial or investment advice. Since market conditions can change rapidly, we encourage you to verify information on your own and consult with a professional before making any decisions based on this content.
Vini Barbosa has covered the crypto industry professionally since 2020, summing up to over 10,000 hours of research, writing, and editing related content for media outlets and key industry players. Vini is an active commentator and a heavy user of the technology, truly believing in its revolutionary potential. Topics of interest include blockchain, open-source software, decentralized finance, and real-world utility.
