man zns
How ZNS Works
Human-readable names for Zcash. alice.zec instead of u1qr5e...7xk4 (213 chars).
── tl;dr ──────────────────────────────────
→One transaction registers your name. No approval, no waiting period, no central authority.
→Permanent ownership. No renewals, no expiry. Your Ed25519 key controls everything.
→Trustless. Every registration proven with ZK proofs. Anyone can verify. Anyone can run an indexer.
── how it works ──────────────────────────────────
01 — REGISTER
Send the registration fee to the registrar with a memo containing your name, address, and Ed25519 signature.
One transaction. Validated within seconds.
02 — RESOLVE
Query
alice.zec → get the unified address + Merkle proof. Verify it mathematically.Wallets do this automatically. No 213-char strings.
03 — OWN
Update your address, transfer ownership, or list for sale — all via signed API calls.
No extra transactions. Works with any wallet including Zashi.
── fees ──────────────────────────────────
One-time. Permanent. Fees are burned — the registrar address was derived from
SHA-256("ZNS Registrar v1 ..."). Nobody holds the spending key.0.01
ZEC
8+ chars
0.1
ZEC
5–7 chars
1
ZEC
3–4 chars
── name rules ──────────────────────────────────
charactersa–z, 0–9, hyphens
length3–63 characters
caselowercase only
hyphensno leading/trailing/consecutive
TLD.zec (implied)
── marketplace ──────────────────────────────────
List names for sale via signed API call. Buyers pay into a shielded escrow — ownership transfers automatically. While listed, updates and transfers are locked to protect buyers.
── verify everything ──────────────────────────────────
✓Every registration has an SP1 zero-knowledge proof — name valid, fee paid, signature correct, state transition correct.
✓Every lookup includes a Merkle proof against the global state root. Verify any response mathematically.
✓Anyone can run their own indexer and rebuild the entire registry from the blockchain. Compare state roots to verify.
Payments to .zec names go to shielded unified addresses — fully private. read more →
── try it ──────────────────────────────────
Explore ZNS in this interactive terminal. Type a command or click a suggestion.
zns-cli — try it
$
── get started (testnet) ──────────────────────────────────
ZNS is live on the Zcash testnet. Testnet ZEC (TAZ) is free.