Funds were swapped through a swap service to a transparent Zcash address created with a wallet app. An initial $100 swap was confirmed before attempting a larger swap
The full amount from the second swap appeared in the wallet, then a send to another wallet app was attempted and repeatedly failed with "Insufficient balance." About ten minutes later, a block explorer check showed the wallet empty and a transaction signed minutes earlier for the entire balance 😰 The immediate concern was that the wallet had been drained and a seed phrase exposed during prior experiments
From the chain's perspective, coins move from the transparent address to a shielded (private) address; both are controlled by the same private key, but explorers can't show that, which can be stressful when unaware of the behavior 😅
Shielding requires a few blocks for full confirmation and indexing shielded funds isn't instant, creating an approximate 10–15 minute window when spending attempts can trigger "Insufficient balance" errors.
Funds were swapped through a swap service to a transparent Zcash address created with a wallet app. An initial $100 swap was confirmed before attempting a larger swap
The full amount from the second swap appeared in the wallet, then a send to another wallet app was attempted and repeatedly failed with "Insufficient balance." About ten minutes later, a block explorer check showed the wallet empty and a transaction signed minutes earlier for the entire balance 😰 The immediate concern was that the wallet had been drained and a seed phrase exposed during prior experiments
While the wallet app continued showing a balance, a screen indicated auto-shielding next to the transparent address
Many Zcash wallet apps automatically shield ZEC on receipt to improve network privacy by defaulting to shielded transactions.
From the chain's perspective, coins move from the transparent address to a shielded (private) address; both are controlled by the same private key, but explorers can't show that, which can be stressful when unaware of the behavior 😅
Shielding requires a few blocks for full confirmation and indexing shielded funds isn't instant, creating an approximate 10–15 minute window when spending attempts can trigger "Insufficient balance" errors.
Once the shielded ZEC is confirmed and indexed, the error clears and funds become spendable
Managing wallets and blockchains takes education and practice; caution and informed questions are important