Silent Payments in Cake Wallet
Silent Payments give you one reusable Bitcoin address starting with sp1 that you can publish without letting outsiders link the payments you receive. Cake Wallet supports sending and receiving; to receive, your phone must scan the blockchain, and if your node cannot serve the data needed, scanning quietly uses Cake Wallet's own server.
Quick steps
- Open Receive. In your Bitcoin wallet tap Receive, tap the address type under the QR code and choose Silent Payments.
- Share the sp1 address. Copy or show the QR code. The address is reusable, so you can publish it.
- Turn on scanning. Go to Settings, Bitcoin Settings, Silent Payments and enable Set Silent Payments always scanning.
- Check your node. If you use your own node, make sure it is an electrs build with Silent Payments tweak support, or scans will use Cake Wallet's server.
- Wait for the scan. Keep the app open while the amber dot shows. Payments appear once the scan reaches their block.
Silent Payments are a Bitcoin standard (BIP-352). Cake Wallet added them in version 4.18.0 in May 2024 and says it was the first wallet with full support for both sending and receiving (Cake Wallet docs, 2026).
How Silent Payments work
Normally, reusing a Bitcoin address is bad for privacy: anyone can look it up and see every payment to it. With Silent Payments you share one static sp1… address, but each sender's wallet uses it to compute a fresh, unique Taproot output on-chain. Only your wallet, using your private keys, can find those outputs. Observers cannot tell that two payments went to the same person.
The trade-off is work on the receiving side. Your wallet has to check every new Bitcoin transaction to find payments meant for you. That is what "scanning" means in the app.
Sending to an sp1 address
Paste the sp1… address on the Send screen like any other Bitcoin address. No extra steps are needed. Note that Bump fee is not offered for transactions sent to an sp1 address, so pick an adequate fee from the start (see Bitcoin in Cake Wallet).
Receiving
Tap Receive, tap the address type under the QR code and choose Silent Payments. Your sp1 address does not change, so you can post it on a website or profile. Then turn on scanning at Settings, Bitcoin Settings, Silent Payments, with the option Set Silent Payments always scanning. While a scan runs, a small amber dot appears next to the chain chips on the home screen (Cake Wallet docs, 2026).
Silent Payments work only on your first Bitcoin account. They are not available on extra accounts created with the 6.5.0 accounts feature.
Battery, data and scan ranges
Scanning uses battery and mobile data while it runs. If you rarely receive Silent Payments, you can leave always-scanning off and switch it on when you expect a payment. Cake Wallet says payments are not lost while scanning is off; they simply stay invisible until you scan. Silent Payments Scanning lets you start from a date or block height instead of scanning the whole chain, and Scan one block checks a single block if you know where a payment landed.
Privacy caveat: the electrs fallback
Scanning needs an Electrum server that provides the Silent Payments "tweaks" index. In practice that means an electrs build with tweak support; many ordinary Electrum servers and most personal nodes do not have it.
When a scan starts, Cake Wallet asks your selected node whether it can serve this data. If it can, the scan uses your node. If it cannot, the scan uses Cake Wallet's server, electrs.cakewallet.com on port 50001, while the rest of the wallet keeps using the node you chose (Cake Wallet docs, 2026; the same address is hard-coded as the default in the source code). The app shows the message: Your current node does not support Silent Payments. Cake Wallet will switch to a compatible node while scanning.
This matters if you run your own node for privacy. Without a tweak-capable electrs, your scanning traffic, including your IP address unless you use Tor, goes to Cake Wallet's infrastructure. The server never receives your keys, but you are trusting a third party with connection metadata such as when and how often you scan. To avoid it, run an electrs build with Silent Payments support, connect Cake Wallet to it (see custom nodes), and consider Tor.
Silent Payments compared with other options
| Option | Reusable? | Receiver must scan? | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Normal bc1q address, new each time | No | No | Everyday payments, exchanges |
| Silent Payment (sp1) | Yes | Yes | Donations, a public profile, repeat payers |
| Lightning address (@cake.cash) | Yes | No | Small, fast payments |
| Payjoin | Address per payment | No | Hiding who owns which input |
The table is a simplified summary; see Lightning and Payjoin for the details of each.
Restoring a wallet that received Silent Payments
Your seed covers Silent Payment funds, but the wallet only finds them by scanning. After restoring in Cake Wallet, open Silent Payments Scanning and start from a date before your first Silent Payment, then let the scan finish. Another app can only find these funds if it also supports receiving Silent Payments; ordinary Bitcoin wallets will not see them. Keep a note of roughly when you started using your sp1 address, so you can scan from that date rather than from the start.
Limits
| Topic | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Who can pay you | Only wallets that support sending to sp1 addresses. Many exchanges do not |
| Accounts | First Bitcoin account only |
| Fee bumping | No Bump fee for sends to sp1 addresses |
| Restoring | Another wallet must support Silent Payments to find these funds from your seed |
| Resources | Scanning costs battery and data |
If an exchange rejects your sp1 address, give it a normal bc1q address instead. You can check the format with the address checker.
As always, back up your seed, and remember Cake Wallet never asks for it or messages you first.
Frequently asked questions
Is a Silent Payment address safe to post publicly?
Yes. That is its purpose. Payments to it land at unique on-chain addresses that outsiders cannot link.
Why don't I see my Silent Payment?
Scanning may be off or still running. Turn on scanning or scan from a date before the payment. Funds are not lost.
Does Cake Wallet see my Silent Payments?
If your node lacks the tweaks index, scans use electrs.cakewallet.com, which sees your connection. It does not receive your keys.
Can exchanges send to sp1 addresses?
Many cannot yet. Use a normal bc1q address if an exchange rejects it.
Do Silent Payments work with Bitcoin accounts?
Only on the first account.