Deposits

When you deposit into ZeroK, your SOL enters a shared pool. Here’s everything you need to know about the process.

What Happens When You Deposit

1. You select a pool denomination and approve the transaction in your wallet
2. Your SOL is transferred into the protocol’s on-chain pool
3. A cryptographic record of your deposit is stored on-chain
4. You receive a note — your proof of deposit and your key to withdraw

The entire process is non-custodial — the protocol is a smart contract on Solana, and only you hold the note needed to withdraw. The transaction confirms in under a second. Your deposit is immediately part of the pool’s anonymity set.

Choosing a Denomination

ZeroK uses fixed-denomination pools. Every deposit in a given pool is exactly the same size, which is essential for privacy — if deposits varied in amount, they could be matched to withdrawals by size.

ZeroK offers several pool sizes. Check the app for currently available denominations. You pay the denomination amount plus a standard Solana transaction fee (~0.000005 SOL).

Understanding Your Note

Your note is a small piece of cryptographic data generated during deposit. It encodes the secret values that prove you made a specific deposit — without revealing which one.

What’s in a note?

Your note contains cryptographic secrets that are used during withdrawal to generate a zero-knowledge proof. You don’t need to understand the contents — just keep it safe.

Note backup best practices

• Download immediately — save the note file as soon as it appears
• Use secure storage — an encrypted folder, a password manager, or a hardware device
• Make a backup — store a second copy in a different secure location
• Never share it — anyone with your note can withdraw your funds
• Don’t screenshot it — screenshots may sync to cloud services or be visible to other apps

Anonymity Set

Your deposit joins the pool’s anonymity set — the total group of unspent deposits. When someone withdraws, an observer can only tell that one deposit from the set was claimed, but not which one.

How the anonymity set affects your privacy:

• Immediately after depositing, the anonymity set may be small. If you’re the only recent depositor, your privacy is limited.
• As more users deposit, the set grows, and your privacy strengthens.
• After many deposits, an observer has very little chance of linking your deposit to any specific withdrawal.

Tip: For stronger privacy, wait until several more deposits have entered the pool before withdrawing. See the Privacy Model for more guidance.

After Your Deposit

Once your deposit is confirmed:

1. Save your note — this is non-negotiable
2. Wait — let more deposits accumulate in the pool
3. Withdraw from a different wallet when you’re ready — see Withdrawals