Researchers Publish 'Zcash-Style' Design for Private Bitcoin Transfers
The Shielded Bitcoin spec hides senders, receivers and amounts, but leaves how BTC enters and exits the system to a later paper.
Researchers at cryptography firm Alloc Init have introduced a new system called Shielded Bitcoin, aiming to bring Zcash-style private transactions to the Bitcoin network without requiring a soft fork. The proposal, published by researchers Clara Shikhelman, Mikhail Komarov, and Aleksei Moskvin, utilizes encrypted notes and zero-knowledge proofs to conceal transaction amounts, senders, receivers, and links to previously spent funds.
By leveraging Bitcoin as a neutral publication and ordering layer, Shielded Bitcoin would rely on separate software called "indexers" to oversee the verification of zero-knowledge proofs and ensure funds have not been double-spent. The design of Shielded Bitcoin is based on Zcash's architecture, employing similar concepts such as encrypted notes, public nullifiers, and zero-knowledge proofs.
However, unlike Zcash, Shielded Bitcoin does not create its own blockchain or consensus mechanism. Nevertheless, critics argue that the initial privacy of the new system would be limited due to the lack of an established anonymity set.
Written by urgent.news from Cointelegraph's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
This story
This is one outlet's version. Read the fullest account.
