Zero Knowledge Transactions
Proving the transaction exists and is valid, without revealing any details about the transaction.
SHIELD provides complete protection for your transactions; preserving the invisibility of transaction details from the sender to the receiver, the amount of the transaction and balances, with no preparation time. This is accomplished through PIVX's novel customization of the zk-SNARK Sapling protocol by Electric Coin Company. As always, your full balance is available for transacting shieldedly any time you wish.
Proving the transaction exists and is valid, without revealing any details about the transaction.
As small as 144 bytes generated in seconds on a low powered computing device.
1/2 of a second to generate, 1/100 of a second to verify.
Hiding both sender and receiver's data, as well as the transaction value.
Grant permission to view transaction details on a case by case basis.
No denominations. No waiting for other users. Simply choose between a Shield or Transparent transaction at the time of the transaction.
Choose what and when you want to share your address and any transaction information publicly, as well as disclose specific transactions and/or amounts with trusted 3rd parties through specialized viewing keys.
Types of SHIELD transactions in the PIVX Ecosystem:
Transparent address
Transparent address
Transparent address
SHIELD address
SHIELD address
Transparent address
SHIELD address
SHIELD address
Transparent addresses are base58 encoded, and start with the letters 'D' and 'S' on mainnet ('X', 'Y', or 'W' on testnet and regtest). SHIELD addresses are bech32 encoded and start with 'ps' on mainnet ('ptestsapling' on testnet).
Addresses and transaction amounts are publicly visible on the blockchain. This works just like as experienced in Bitcoin where the sender, receiver, and all aspects of the transaction (including the amounts) are publicly visible.
Addresses and the transaction amounts are completely hidden and not publicly visible. Important to know, a SHIELD to SHIELD transaction will still appear on the PIVX blockchain in a SHIELD form, allowing anyone to validate that the transaction occurred. That being said, it will be virtually impossible for an outside observer to put the transaction addresses into a relatedness and prove it.
Zero-Knowledge Proofs are a cryptographic method by which one party (the prover) can prove to another party (the verifier) that a given statement is true, without conveying (or unknowingly leaking) any information apart from one simple statement: that the statement being made is indeed true.
A Zero-Knowledge protocol thus allows you to do something REALLY impressive. To prove that you know something without revealing what that something is.
Put another way, let's say you have knowledge of something, but do not want to share it (for a plethora of reasons: security protocols, preventing hacking, etc).
But you NEED to authenticate to another party/person/entity/computer that you indeed KNOW that. Dilemma. How do you do that without giving away that secret?
That's the very definition of "zero-knowledge" - no ("zero") information about the secret is revealed, but the second party (or any other party that needs to validate) is convinced (in full) that you know the information/data/details (that secret).
Why would anyone need to prove that they know something without telling what that something is?
When you don't trust the other person.
When you trust the other person but don’t want PERSONAL details floating around online.
When you are “neutral” about trusting the other person but need to complete some transaction.
When you need to persuade another person that you DO have/know something, and can demonstrate it in a mathematical and computational sound manner.
You want to make a purchase (online, or in a store). Obviously, the retailer needs to know you have the funds and that the funds can get sent. Otherwise, there is no transaction that can take place. So, you need to demonstrate (prove) that you have enough money to pay for that item. BUT, you probably do NOT want to disclose the exact amount of your total holdings/account balance, etc to that individual/retailer. By using a Zero-Knowledge proof, this information (PROOF of your funds) can thus be transmitted and proven to be true without disclosing anything else. Your personal information is safe. Your identity is safe. Your total balance is safe. The retailer is satisfied (yes, you have the funds, thank you!) and you are satisfied you’ve demonstrated you have sufficient funds to complete the transaction, knowing no other information was transmitted (or leaked or obtained by the retailer).
There is more though to the SHIELD Zero-Knowledge Proof story, however. An owner of a SHIELD address may choose to share their Shield address and transaction details with any trusted third parties. This is accomplished through the use and sharing of view keys.
Users and owners are free to transact, send, and receive funds between SHIELD and Transparent addresses, anytime.
With this, we highly encourage each and every user of PIVX to get familiar with how Shield and Transparent transactions work, as there are implications on one's financial data protection when de-shielding or shielding (sending to a transparent address or receiving from a transparent address).
There are two main types of addresses in the PIVX ecosystem: shielded and transparent. PIVX-Shielded addresses remain hidden, and any transaction that takes place between PIVX-Shielded addresses keep the address, the transaction amount, and any content of the Encrypted Memo field, completely hidden. PIVX-Transparent addresses are publicly viewable, and any transactions between them and other addresses are completely publicly viewable on the PIVX blockchain, meaning addresses and amounts are visible anytime.
An owner of a shielded address may choose to share their shielded-address and transaction details with any trusted third parties. This is accomplished through the use and sharing of specialized view keys.
You can learn more in the PIVX Knowledgebase or post your questions in the PIVX Forum or Discord.