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Introduction
A public account of the machine. Execution stays inside the note. Zcash keeps the seal.
Zelum is the Zcash Virtual Machine. It is an encrypted EVM, and it runs as a layer 2 on Zcash. Contracts execute in a form developers already know. The state they touch is shielded. What settles in public is a seal: proof that the machine completed its work, with the contents of that work kept inside the note.
Zelum is the name of the machine and the asset. This site is the editorial surface. The testnet is the working surface, where a key is held, a note is moved, and a contract is sealed.
What this book covers
The pages that follow stay on the machine you can use. They describe the runtime, the encrypted EVM, settlement on Zcash, shielded notes, contract seals, and the testnet.
- The machine: a quiet runtime for shielded state.
- An encrypted EVM: familiar execution, sealed contents.
- A layer 2 on Zcash: the public chain records the seal.
- Notes, seals, and settlement: how value and contracts move.
- The testnet: a key, a transfer, a deploy.