Researchers Propose Zcash-Style Privacy for Bitcoin Without a Soft Fork

• Researchers propose "Shielded Bitcoin," a metaprotocol that enhances Bitcoin privacy by hiding transaction amounts and counterparties without altering consensus rules or using trusted intermediaries.
• The design utilizes encrypted "notes" and zero-knowledge proofs to confirm transactions while keeping details private, allowing anyone to run indexers for verification without central control.
• Shielded Bitcoin aims to complement existing privacy solutions like CoinJoin and Zcash, but operates directly on Bitcoin's blockchain, maintaining a connection to its transaction history.

https://cryptopotato.com/researchers-propose-zcash-style-privacy-for-bitcoin-without-a-soft-fork/