Series: Zero to Zero Knowledge
If you are learning about Zcash for the first time you will find there are two types of transactions available: Transparent and Shielded.
Today we learn about them & cover one of the new features in the #Zcash ecosystem, Unified Addresses.
Shielded Transaction refers to any transaction with addresses encoded for Sapling/Orchard pools.
Unified Addresses (UAs) are designed to unify shielded or transparent transactions into a single address.
There are 3 types of address in use:
The number of characters (and therefore QR code size) increases with each type.
Addresses and keys are encoded as a byte sequence (Raw Encoding).
A Receiver Encoding includes all necessary information to transfer an asset using a specific protocol.
The raw encoding of a Unified Address is a combination of encodings (typecode, length, addr) of receivers:
0x030x020x01Important: There must be at least one shielded payment address in every UA. (Sprout addresses are no longer supported after the Canopy upgrade.)
Full specification: ZIP-316: Unified Addresses
This is a fundamental shift that is already helping more ZEC move into the shielded pool.
Orchard introduced a new concept called Actions:
Daira explains Anchor positions (zcon3):
In some cases (e.g. cross-pool transactions) amounts may be visible to an outside observer. However, valueBalanceSapling and valueBalanceOrchard use homomorphic commitments to prove the total ZEC in shielded pools and prevent counterfeiting.
Read more: ZIP 209: Prohibit Out-of-Range Chain Value Pool Balances
The ECC team is working on new RPC methods in zcashd (replacing z_sendmany) that will let users preview and accept/reject a proposed transaction based on its privacy characteristics.
This thread originally pointed at YWallet, for the transaction plan it showed before you hit send. YWallet is no longer maintained and will not be updated for Ironwood, so it can no longer follow the chain. Pick a maintained wallet from the Wallets page instead, and prefer one that tells you what a transaction will reveal before it goes out.
Great article on transaction privacy: https://medium.com/@hanh.huynh/
Original Thread by ZecHub (@ZecHub)
https://x.com/ZecHub/status/1628498645627666432
This page was compiled from the original Zero to Zero Knowledge thread for the ZecHub wiki.