Zafu

A privacy-centric multichain wallet with client-side state.

what

Zafu is a Chrome extension wallet built around two principles:

1. Privacy is a first-class chain property. Penumbra and Zcash are the production shielded chains with mature crypto, and Zafu is a first-class client for both. Other networks are supported as bridging infrastructure; the privacy chains are the organizing principle of the wallet, not items on a list.

2. State is client-side. Zafu does not depend on a custodial backend. Viewing keys live on the user's device, notes are decrypted locally, and transactions are built locally. Network calls go only to chain RPC endpoints - which can be self-hosted - for state and broadcast.

The recommended security posture pairs Zafu with Zigner, an air-gapped cold signer running on a dedicated phone. Zafu holds only viewing keys, Zigner holds spending keys, and the channel between them is QR codes only.

A standalone mode is available for users who don't want air-gap. In standalone mode, spending keys are encrypted at rest with a passphrase and held on the host browser.

what it does

• Penumbra - shielded transfers, swaps, staking, delegated voting, IBC
• Zcash - Orchard pool send/receive, transparent (t1…) send/receive, shield-to-Orchard
• Multisig - t-of-n FROST vaults on both chains, with QR-based DKG and signing. See docs/MULTISIG.md.
• Hot/cold - viewing-key-only mode that pairs with Zigner via QR

privacy properties

property	preserved
sender / receiver / amount	yes (chain-level)
cross-tx linkability	yes (chain-level)
view-only delegation	yes (Zigner pairing)
forward secrecy on key leak	no - chain history is permanent
metadata vs query backend	no - run your own Zidecar / pd
host-process compromise	depends on custody mode

Full threat model: docs/THREAT_MODEL.md. For the broader doc index, see docs/README.md.

who this is not for

• users who want a 30-chain swiss-army wallet
• users who need cloud-synced transaction history
• users who can't or won't run a self-hosted query backend, if metadata privacy is in their threat model

install

Beta: signed .crx builds on the releases page. Current version: v24.0.0-beta.1.

Production (Chrome Web Store): pending review.

build

Requires Node.js 22+, pnpm (via corepack), and Chrome or Chromium. Or nix develop.

git clone https://github.com/rotkonetworks/zafu
cd zafu
pnpm install
pnpm dev

Output lands in apps/extension/dist. Load it via chrome://extensions → developer mode → "load unpacked".

For a dedicated browser profile:

CHROMIUM_PROFILE=chromium-profile pnpm dev

Production and beta bundles:

pnpm build

Outputs apps/extension/dist (prod, ID bfdfeleokgpdladfmipfmffgpjfjibbe) and apps/extension/beta-dist (beta, ID hlnodmbpndgjbhophnfbnfpgcbogiohh).

monorepo

apps/
  extension/          chrome MV3 extension
packages/
  context/            shared react context
  custody-chrome/     key custody backed by chrome storage
  encryption/         passphrase-derived encryption helpers
  finagle/            internal utilities
  mock-chrome/        chrome API stubs for tests
  query/              chain query layer
  storage-chrome/     chrome storage abstraction
  ui/                 shared UI components
  wallet/             cross-chain wallet logic
  zcash-wasm/         zcash orchard derivation (WASM, rayon)
  zid/                zafu identity SDK
  tailwind-config/    shared tailwind preset
  tsconfig/           shared tsconfig presets

upstream

Forked from prax-wallet/prax. Penumbra packages from @penumbra-zone/web.

license

MIT / Apache-2.0