ZEROTRACE, explained simply

No crypto degree needed. The first part is a plain-English guide for everyone. Developer details are at the bottom.

The problem: your wallet is a postcard

Imagine sending every letter as a postcard. The mail carrier can read who you are, where you live and everything you wrote. That is how most crypto wallets work today.

Your wallet app (MetaMask, Rabby, a trading bot) cannot talk to the blockchain by itself. It goes through a middleman called an RPC provider, usually a big company such as Infura or Alchemy. Every time you open the app, it tells that company:

  • your IP address, which points to your home or your phone,
  • every wallet address you own, so they know all those wallets are the same person,
  • what you look at and when: which tokens, which balances, what you are about to buy.

On top of that, the blockchain itself is public. Anyone who learns one of your addresses can see your balance, the exchange that funded it (and that exchange knows your name), the hours you are awake, and the other wallets you send money to.

Why it matters. Rich-looking wallets get targeted by scammers and phishing. Traders get front-run by bots that see their orders first. Data collected today can be sold, leaked or hacked tomorrow. Most people have no idea any of this happens.

What ZEROTRACE does, in one minute

  • A sealed envelope instead of a postcard. Your wallet connects through ZEROTRACE. We do not log your IP or what you ask, and we strip your details before the request reaches the blockchain.
  • Paying without a name. Access is paid with short-lived keys, not an account. No email, no card. With the private balance (zkAPI, from the Ethereum Foundation) even the payment cannot be linked to you.
  • Free check-ups. See what your wallet gives away (privacy score) and which apps can still take your tokens (approvals).
  • Private swaps. Swap coins through a shared privacy pool so nobody can tell which deposit paid.
  • Swaps bots cannot sandwich. On Ethereum your transactions go through a private lane, hidden from front-running bots.
  • Everyday tools. Wallet viewer, transaction tracker, gas in dollars, private AI chat and a Telegram bot.

Words you will see

Wallet address
Your account number on the blockchain, like 0x1a2b... Anyone can look it up.
RPC / node
The server your wallet talks to. Think of it as the post office of the blockchain.
Key
Your ZEROTRACE access pass: a long code starting with zt-. It has a dollar balance and an expiry date. Keep it private.
Approval
A permission you gave an app to move one of your tokens. It stays forever unless you take it back.
Privacy pool
A shared box many people put coins into. When coins come out, nobody can tell whose coins they were.
Note
Your secret receipt for coins inside a privacy pool. Only your 12-word phrase can spend it.
Zero-knowledge proof
Math that proves something is true without revealing the details. Example: "I own one of these notes" without saying which.
Relayer
A helper that sends your private swap to the blockchain and pays the gas, so your new address needs no ETH.
MEV / sandwich
Bots that see your swap before it happens, buy just before you and sell just after, taking a cut of your money.

Guide 1: get your free key (30 seconds)

  1. 1
  2. 2
    Press Create my key under "Free starter". You get $0.03 of credit for 7 days, enough for about 3,000 requests.
  3. 3
    That is it. The key is saved in your browser. You will see its balance and expiry at the top of every tool.
  4. 4
    Need more? Redeem a gift code, or pay with ETH (Guide 9). In Telegram, send /starter to the bot.

Guide 2: make your wallet private

  1. 1
    On Get access, scroll to Add private RPC to your wallet.
  2. 2
    Press Add to wallet next to Ethereum (and Base, Arbitrum, BNB if you use them). Your wallet asks you to approve: say yes.
  3. 3
    In the wallet's network settings, make sure the ZEROTRACE link is selected as the default for that network.
  4. 4
    Phone wallet? Scan the QR code shown on the page. Manual way: Settings, Networks, pick the network, Add RPC URL, paste the link.
  5. 5
    Done. Your wallet now goes through ZEROTRACE, and on Ethereum your swaps are hidden from sandwich bots.

The link contains your key. Do not share it. If it leaks, see Guide 9.

Guide 3: check your privacy score

  1. 1
    Open Privacy score. No key needed.
  2. 2
    Paste your wallet address, or press "Use my connected wallet". Press Show my score.
  3. 3
    Read the list: each line is something a stranger can learn, from the most serious down.
  4. 4
    Follow "How to fix it". Then share your score card (it never shows your address) and challenge a friend.

Guide 4: remove risky approvals

  1. 1
    Open Approvals and press Connect wallet to scan and revoke.
  2. 2
    Red "Danger" or "High risk" items are the ones to remove: unknown apps, unpublished code, or a plain wallet as the spender.
  3. 3
    Press Revoke on each, or Revoke all risky. Each one is a small transaction your wallet asks you to confirm.
  4. 4
    Approvals for well-known apps are usually fine. Remove them anyway if you no longer use the app.

Careful: if a trading bot uses an approval, revoking it stops the bot from selling until you approve again.

Guide 5: do a private swap

Think of a coat check. You hand in your coat and get a ticket. Later, someone with a valid ticket collects a coat, but nobody can tell which coat came from which person. Privacy pools work the same way with coins.

  1. 1
    Open Private swap and press Create a new phrase. Write the 12 words on paper. They are the only way to spend your notes.
  2. 2
    Choose a pool (ETH, USDC, USDT, DAI or zipcoin) and an amount, then Deposit. This step is public, like walking into a busy square.
  3. 3
    Wait for approval. The pool checks deposits are not stolen money: a few hours on 0xbow pools, minutes on the zipcoin pool. Press "Check status".
  4. 4
    When it says "approved, ready", press Swap this. Pick what you want to receive and where:
  5. 5
    To a fresh address (a brand-new wallet with no history), or Back into a private note to stay hidden.
  6. 6
    Press Get quote, check the numbers, then Prove and swap. Your browser builds the proof (a few seconds) and the relayer sends it.

Best privacy: wait a while after depositing, and do not swap the exact amount you deposited. Download the notes backup after each step.

Guide 6: use the Telegram bot

  1. 1
    Open @ZerotraceZKbot and press Start. A menu of buttons appears.
  2. 2
    Tap a tool, for example Privacy score, then paste an address when asked. Every button also has a command: type / to see them.
  3. 3
    Get a key in the chat with /starter, then /rpc for your wallet links and /ai to ask the AI.
  4. 4
    Watch wallets with /alert 0x.... The bot messages you whenever money comes in or goes out. /stop removes everything.

Guide 7: private AI chat

Open AI chat, pick a model and type. No account, no email. Each answer shows what it cost (usually a fraction of a cent) and is paid from your key. The conversation is kept only in your browser and you can turn that off.

Guide 8: codes, top-ups and leaked keys

  • Gift code: on Get access choose "I have a code" and paste it. In Telegram: /redeem.
  • Top up: add a code or ETH to the same key, so your wallet links keep working.
  • Pay with ETH: send at least 0.001 ETH, get credit worth the dollar value for 90 days. This payment is public, so use a fresh wallet.
  • Buy gift codes: one ETH payment becomes up to 20 codes for friends or a giveaway.
  • Key leaked? Press "Rotate key". The old key stops instantly and the leftover credit moves to a new one.

Is it safe? The honest answer

  • We never hold your coins on the website. Wallet actions are always confirmed by you in your own wallet.
  • We do not store IP addresses or request contents. Your key is stored only as a fingerprint (hash).
  • Privacy Pools by 0xbow are audited. The ZEROTRACE swap contracts and the zkAPI private balance are new and not yet audited. Start with small amounts.
  • Deposits into pools and payments with ETH are public transactions. Privacy starts after that.
  • Your IP is visible to our edge network (we do not forward or keep it). For full network privacy, add a VPN or Tor.
  • Privacy is strongest when many people use the same pools. Patience and different amounts help.

FAQ

Do I need to know anything technical?

No. Start with the privacy score: paste an address and read the results.

Is it free?

The checks are free. The starter key is free. Heavy use costs about $10 per million requests. Private swaps cost 0.5% plus gas.

What if I lose my 12-word phrase?

Your private notes cannot be recovered. Nobody, including us, can restore them. Write the phrase down and keep the notes backup.

Is there a token?

Yes: ZEROTRACE ($ZKTRACE), 1,000,000 fixed supply on Uniswap V4, 4% team. It is not live yet. See the Token page; the real contract address will only be posted there and in our bot.

For developers

Private RPC quickstart

Send standard JSON-RPC to https://rpc.zerotrace.sbs/rpc/{chain} with eth, base, arb, bsc or sol. Key in the header or in the path.

curl -X POST https://rpc.zerotrace.sbs/rpc/eth \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ZT_KEY" -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"eth_blockNumber","params":[]}'
// viem
const client = createPublicClient({ chain: base, transport: http("https://rpc.zerotrace.sbs/rpc/base/" + process.env.ZT_KEY) });
// ethers v6
const provider = new JsonRpcProvider("https://rpc.zerotrace.sbs/rpc/arb/" + process.env.ZT_KEY);
// Solana web3.js
const conn = new Connection("https://rpc.zerotrace.sbs/rpc/sol/" + process.env.ZT_KEY, "confirmed");

Pricing and limits

  • Standard call $0.00001 ($10 per million). Heavy methods (getLogs, trace, getProgramAccounts) 5x. Writes 2x.
  • Up to 100 calls per batch, 512 KB per request. Responses carry x-zerotrace-cost-usd and x-zerotrace-remaining-usd.
  • A single eth_sendRawTransaction on Ethereum goes through Flashbots Protect, then MEV Blocker (x-zerotrace-route: private).

Keys API

  • POST /v1/keys/starter, /v1/keys/redeem, /v1/keys/buy, /v1/keys/topup, /v1/keys/rotate, GET /v1/keys/status.
  • Free data: /v1/privacy/:address, /v1/approvals/:address, /v1/gas, /v1/prices, /v1/status.

Private swap

One ZeroTraceSwap contract per source pool (0xbow ETH, USDC, USDT, DAI and the zipcoin ZC pool). It is the withdrawal processooor: the order (Uniswap v3 path, output token, minimum, recipient or new-note precommitment, deadline, relayer, relay fee) is ABI-encoded into withdrawal.data and sealed by the proof context. Fee 0.5% to the treasury. API: GET /v1/swap/config, POST /v1/swap/quote, POST /v1/swap/relay (ZEROTRACE key required).

Provider kit

@zerotrace/provider-kit turns any HTTP API into a zkAPI destination: the key-management API zkAPI operators call, plus per-request metering and refunds. Keys are stored as SHA-256 hashes.

import { zeroTrace, SqlKeyStore } from "@zerotrace/provider-kit";
export default {
  async fetch(req, env) {
    const zt = zeroTrace({ store: new SqlKeyStore(env.DB), managementKey: env.MANAGEMENT_KEY, basePath: "/api", price: () => 0.0001 });
    return zt(req, (req) => handleMyApi(req, env));
  },
};