# Zcash Shielded Supply: ZEC in Sapling and Orchard Pools

> Zcash shielded supply by pool: ZEC in Orchard, Sapling and Sprout, the shielded share of all ZEC and daily shielding and deshielding, read from each block.

Markdown copy of https://voltfincrypto.com/apps/zcash-shielded-supply

**Question:** How much ZEC is held in shielded pools, and what share of the supply is shielded?

- Kind: Dashboard in Voltfin Vantage
- Topic: [Layer 1 chains](https://voltfincrypto.com/topics/chains)
- Chains: Zcash
- Status: Planned. The data is not published yet, so this page states no figure; each figure will open its receipt when it is.

Zcash keeps value in separate pools: a transparent pool that works like Bitcoin, and the shielded Sprout, Sapling and Orchard pools, where senders, receivers and amounts are encrypted. The amounts inside a shielded pool are hidden, but each pool's total is public, because every block records how much value entered or left it. This dashboard reads those totals at each day's last block and shows how much ZEC is shielded and in which pool.

Use it to see whether shielded use is growing, which pool holds the coins and how fast value moves between transparent and shielded addresses. The shielded share is computed from pool totals at one block, so the share and the supply it is measured against never come from different moments, and each figure links to the block it was read at.

## Blueprint

### Pools

How much ZEC each pool holds and the shielded share of supply.

- **Shielded supply** (ZEC): ZEC held in the Sprout, Sapling and Orchard pools together at the latest day-end block, from the node's value pool totals.
- **Shielded share of supply** (%): Shielded supply divided by the sum of every value pool at the same block, so both parts come from one height.
- **Orchard pool** (ZEC): ZEC in the Orchard pool at the latest day-end block, the pool current wallets shield into.
- **Sapling pool** (ZEC): ZEC in the Sapling pool at the latest day-end block, including coins not yet moved to Orchard.
- **ZEC in each pool over time** (ZEC): The transparent, Sprout, Sapling and Orchard totals at every day-end block, so a migration shows as one band shrinking while another grows.

### Flows and use

ZEC moving into and out of shielded pools and the activity inside them.

- **Net shielded, latest day** (ZEC): The change in shielded supply between the last two day-end blocks: positive when more ZEC entered shielded pools than left them.
- **Shielded transactions, latest day** (count): Transactions on the latest complete day with at least one Sapling spend or output or one Orchard action.
- **Shielding and deshielding by day** (ZEC): ZEC moved into shielded pools and out of them each day, summed from the value balance of every transaction's Sapling and Orchard parts.
- **Activity inside the pools** (count): Sapling spends, Sapling outputs and Orchard actions per day: the use of the pools that their balances alone do not show.

Filters: Period (Last 30 or 90 days, last year or since Sapling activated); Pool (All shielded pools, Orchard, Sapling or Sprout).

## How it will be measured

- Each pool's balance comes from the value pool fields a Zcash node reports for every block (chainValueZat), for the transparent, Sprout, Sapling and Orchard pools and the development fund lockbox, read at the last block of each UTC day and converted from zatoshis to ZEC.
- Total supply is the sum of every value pool at the same height, so the shielded share always divides two figures read from one block.
- Shielding and deshielding flows come from each transaction's Sapling and Orchard value balance: a negative balance moves ZEC into the pool and a positive one moves it out.
- Activity counts Sapling spends and outputs and Orchard actions in every block from decoded transactions, without any attempt to link or trace shielded notes.
- Every figure carries a receipt: the block height and hash, the node reads that agreed and the time of the read.

## Data it needs

- `privacy_pools_daily` (to build): Deposits into and withdrawals from privacy pools and shielded pools per protocol and day, and shielded supply where measurable.
- Source: getblock at each day-end height on Zcash: valuePools chainValueZat and valueDeltaZat for transparent, Sprout, Sapling, Orchard and lockbox
- Source: getblockchaininfo valuePools at the chain tip, for the latest reading
- Source: valueBalanceSapling and valueBalanceOrchard of every transaction, for shielding and deshielding flows
- Source: Sapling spend and output counts and Orchard action counts per block, from decoded transactions

## Questions

### What is the Zcash shielded supply?

It is the ZEC held in the shielded pools, Sprout, Sapling and Orchard, rather than at transparent addresses. Coins in these pools move without revealing sender, receiver or amount, but the protocol tracks each pool's total, so the overall supply can still be checked.

### What is the difference between Sapling and Orchard?

Sapling is the shielded protocol introduced in 2018, with separate spends and outputs. Orchard arrived with the NU5 upgrade in 2022, uses the Halo 2 proving system without a trusted setup and bundles each spend and output into an action. Both pools are in use, and wallets can move funds from Sapling to Orchard.

### Why does the Sprout pool still hold ZEC?

Sprout was the first shielded pool. Since the Canopy upgrade no new value can be added to it, but coins already there can still be moved out, so its balance only falls as holders migrate. What remains belongs to owners who have not moved their coins since.

### How can shielded totals be checked if amounts are hidden?

Every transaction states the net value it moves into or out of each shielded pool, and consensus rejects any block that would push a pool below zero. This turnstile means that ZEC created by a hidden bug inside a pool would be caught when it tried to leave.

### Does a high shielded share mean most ZEC is used privately?

Not on its own. The share shows where coins sit, not how often they move: coins can be shielded once and held for a long time. That is why the dashboard shows activity inside the pools next to their balances.

## Glossary

- **Shielded pool**: A set of notes whose owners, amounts and transfers are encrypted on-chain. Zcash has three: Sprout, Sapling and Orchard.
- **Value balance**: The net value a transaction moves out of a shielded pool: positive when value leaves the pool, negative when it enters.
- **Turnstile**: The accounting rule that tracks every pool's total through public value balances, so no pool can ever be spent below zero.
- **Orchard action**: One Orchard description that pairs a spend with an output, so observers cannot tell how many real spends and outputs a transaction holds.
- **Zatoshi**: The smallest unit of ZEC, one hundred millionth of a coin, used in node responses.

## Related apps

- [Privacy Protocols Ranked by Shielded Value](https://voltfincrypto.com/apps/privacy-protocols-ranking)
- [Railgun Volume: Shielded Deposits and Withdrawals](https://voltfincrypto.com/apps/railgun-volume)
- [Layer 1 Blockchain List: Activity, Fees and Staking](https://voltfincrypto.com/apps/layer-1-blockchain-list)
- [Blockchain Revenue Rankings: Monthly League Table](https://voltfincrypto.com/apps/blockchain-revenue-rankings)
- [Blockchain Fees by Chain: Daily Totals](https://voltfincrypto.com/apps/blockchain-fees-by-chain)
- [Active Addresses by Blockchain: Daily and Monthly](https://voltfincrypto.com/apps/active-addresses-by-blockchain)

Build it in Voltfin Studio: https://app.voltfincrypto.com/signup?next=%2F