Learn · 03
2 min read
Unified addresses
One u1… address that bundles several receivers, so payers pick the most private one.
A unified address (starting with u1) packs several receivers into one string: usually an Orchard receiver, often a Sapling one, and sometimes a transparent one. They arrived with the NU5 upgrade in 2022 and are defined in ZIP-316.
You share one address, and the paying wallet chooses the most private receiver it understands. Two modern shielded wallets will pay each other shielded without either person thinking about pools.
Some services, including many exchanges, still only accept transparent addresses; for those, your wallet can show a separate transparent address. Zcan swaps accept a unified address directly. Anyone who receives a unified address can decode the receivers inside it, so a transparent receiver bundled with shielded ones can link them.
Unified addresses are long. Copy and paste them, and compare the first and last characters before you send.