Introducing Token Gating & Deflationary Tokenomics

Today we’re excited to announce a major upgrade to the zNinja Shielded Pool protocol: token gating and a 0.1% burn mechanism are now live across our entire stack.

What’s new?

Token gating

The zNinja Shielded Pool now requires users to hold $NINJA tokens to interact with the protocol. This creates a natural alignment between protocol usage and token ownership—if you want privacy, you need to be part of the community.

The gate check is simple: your wallet must have a non-zero balance of $NINJA to deposit or withdraw. This ensures that only token holders can access the shielded pool, creating sustainable demand for $NINJA while filtering out potential bad actors.

Deflationary burns

Every deposit and withdrawal now burns 0.1% of the transaction amount. This small fee creates constant deflationary pressure on $NINJA’s supply:

Action	Burn Applied
Deposit	✅ 0.1% burned
Withdraw	✅ 0.1% burned
Shielded Transfer	❌ No burn

Why no burn on shielded transfers? We want to encourage users to keep funds in the shielded pool as long as possible. Once you’re inside the pool, moving funds privately is completely free.

Over time, as protocol usage grows, the cumulative burn will meaningfully reduce the circulating supply of $NINJA.

Technical implementation

This upgrade touched every layer of our stack:

Solana program

• Added burn_rate_bps and total_burned to pool configuration
• Gate validation on deposit and withdraw instructions
• Token burn via CPI before vault transfers

TypeScript SDK

• New burn calculation utilities: calculateBurnAmount(), calculateAmountAfterBurn(), calculateGrossAmount()
• Updated PoolConfig interface with burn tracking fields

Swift SDK (iOS)

• Native burn calculation functions for mobile apps
• Updated configuration with burn rate parameter

All changes maintain full backwards compatibility. Existing integrations will work seamlessly—they’ll just start seeing the burn applied automatically.

What this means for users

When you deposit 1,000 $NINJA:

• 1 $NINJA is burned (0.1%)
• 999 $NINJA enters your shielded balance

When you withdraw 1,000 $NINJA:

• 1 $NINJA is burned (0.1%)
• 999 $NINJA arrives in your wallet

The burn is clearly displayed in both our SDKs, so users always know exactly what they’re receiving.

Looking ahead

This is the first step in our tokenomics roadmap. The burn mechanism lays the groundwork for future features like:

• Tiered burn rates based on holding duration
• Burn fee distribution to stakers
• Governance control over burn parameters

Get started

The updated SDKs are available now:

• TypeScript: npm install @zninja/shielded-pool-sdk
• Swift: Add ShieldedPoolSDK via Swift Package Manager
• Documentation: docs.zninja.io

Building private transactions on Solana, one burn at a time.