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Blockchain General

Zcash

A privacy-focused cryptocurrency launched in October 2016 that pioneered the use of zk-SNARKs to enable fully shielded transactions where sender, receiver, and amount are cryptographically hidden on a public blockchain. Zcash uses a UTXO model derived from Bitcoin and maintains multiple value pools (transparent, Sapling, Orchard) with a turnstile mechanism ensuring supply integrity. Major upgrades include Sapling (2018) for efficient proofs and NU5/Orchard (2022) introducing Halo 2 to eliminate trusted setup.

IDzcashAliasZEC
Plain meaning

Plain meaning

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A privacy-focused cryptocurrency launched in October 2016 that pioneered the use of zk-SNARKs to enable fully shielded transactions where sender, receiver, and amount are cryptographically hidden on a public blockchain. Zcash uses a UTXO model derived from Bitcoin and maintains multiple value pools (transparent, Sapling, Orchard) with a turnstile mechanism ensuring supply integrity. Major upgrades include Sapling (2018) for efficient proofs and NU5/Orchard (2022) introducing Halo 2 to eliminate trusted setup.

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Zcash (zcash)
Category: Blockchain General
Definition: A privacy-focused cryptocurrency launched in October 2016 that pioneered the use of zk-SNARKs to enable fully shielded transactions where sender, receiver, and amount are cryptographically hidden on a public blockchain. Zcash uses a UTXO model derived from Bitcoin and maintains multiple value pools (transparent, Sapling, Orchard) with a turnstile mechanism ensuring supply integrity. Major upgrades include Sapling (2018) for efficient proofs and NU5/Orchard (2022) introducing Halo 2 to eliminate trusted setup.
Aliases: ZEC
Related: Shielded Transaction, Zcash Sapling, UTXO Model
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Branch

Shielded Transaction

A Zcash transaction where sender address, receiver address, and amount are encrypted using zk-SNARKs, providing cryptographic privacy while allowing network nodes to verify validity without learning private details. Shielded transactions operate within dedicated value pools (Sapling or Orchard), each with independent circuit designs. Users can selectively disclose transaction details to third parties using viewing keys without compromising spending authority.

Viewing Key
Open term
Branch

Zcash Sapling

A major Zcash protocol upgrade activated in October 2018 that reduced proof generation from ~40 seconds to ~2 seconds and memory from 3 GB to ~40 MB, making shielded transactions practical on mobile devices. Sapling introduced new shielded addresses, full viewing keys, diversified addresses, and decoupled proof construction from transaction signing. Its cryptographic libraries (bellman, librustzcash) became foundational for the broader ZK ecosystem.

Turnstile Mechanism
Open term
Branch

UTXO Model

The accounting model used by Bitcoin (and derived chains like Litecoin and Zcash) where balances are represented as a set of unspent transaction outputs rather than account balances. Each transaction consumes one or more UTXOs as inputs and creates new UTXOs as outputs; the difference between input and output values constitutes the transaction fee. The UTXO model enables natural parallelism and simple verification but makes stateful smart contracts more complex compared to account-based models like Ethereum or Solana.

BitcoinBitcoin Script
Open term
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Blockchain General

Shielded Transaction

A Zcash transaction where sender address, receiver address, and amount are encrypted using zk-SNARKs, providing cryptographic privacy while allowing network nodes to verify validity without learning private details. Shielded transactions operate within dedicated value pools (Sapling or Orchard), each with independent circuit designs. Users can selectively disclose transaction details to third parties using viewing keys without compromising spending authority.

Open term
Blockchain General

Zcash Sapling

A major Zcash protocol upgrade activated in October 2018 that reduced proof generation from ~40 seconds to ~2 seconds and memory from 3 GB to ~40 MB, making shielded transactions practical on mobile devices. Sapling introduced new shielded addresses, full viewing keys, diversified addresses, and decoupled proof construction from transaction signing. Its cryptographic libraries (bellman, librustzcash) became foundational for the broader ZK ecosystem.

Open term
Blockchain General

UTXO Model

The accounting model used by Bitcoin (and derived chains like Litecoin and Zcash) where balances are represented as a set of unspent transaction outputs rather than account balances. Each transaction consumes one or more UTXOs as inputs and creates new UTXOs as outputs; the difference between input and output values constitutes the transaction fee. The UTXO model enables natural parallelism and simple verification but makes stateful smart contracts more complex compared to account-based models like Ethereum or Solana.

Open term
Blockchain General

Viewing Key

A cryptographic key in Zcash enabling selective disclosure of shielded transaction information without granting spending authority. The key hierarchy includes Incoming Viewing Key (IVK) for detecting received payments, Outgoing Viewing Key (OVK) for viewing sent transactions, and Full Viewing Key (FVK) combining both. Viewing keys enable regulatory compliance and auditing by allowing designated third parties to monitor shielded account activity.

Open term
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Blockchain Generalzcash-sapling

Zcash Sapling

A major Zcash protocol upgrade activated in October 2018 that reduced proof generation from ~40 seconds to ~2 seconds and memory from 3 GB to ~40 MB, making shielded transactions practical on mobile devices. Sapling introduced new shielded addresses, full viewing keys, diversified addresses, and decoupled proof construction from transaction signing. Its cryptographic libraries (bellman, librustzcash) became foundational for the broader ZK ecosystem.

AliasSapling
Open term
Related terms

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Blockchain Generalshielded-transaction

Shielded Transaction

A Zcash transaction where sender address, receiver address, and amount are encrypted using zk-SNARKs, providing cryptographic privacy while allowing network nodes to verify validity without learning private details. Shielded transactions operate within dedicated value pools (Sapling or Orchard), each with independent circuit designs. Users can selectively disclose transaction details to third parties using viewing keys without compromising spending authority.

Open term
Blockchain Generalzcash-sapling

Zcash Sapling

A major Zcash protocol upgrade activated in October 2018 that reduced proof generation from ~40 seconds to ~2 seconds and memory from 3 GB to ~40 MB, making shielded transactions practical on mobile devices. Sapling introduced new shielded addresses, full viewing keys, diversified addresses, and decoupled proof construction from transaction signing. Its cryptographic libraries (bellman, librustzcash) became foundational for the broader ZK ecosystem.

Open term
Blockchain Generalutxo-model

UTXO Model

The accounting model used by Bitcoin (and derived chains like Litecoin and Zcash) where balances are represented as a set of unspent transaction outputs rather than account balances. Each transaction consumes one or more UTXOs as inputs and creates new UTXOs as outputs; the difference between input and output values constitutes the transaction fee. The UTXO model enables natural parallelism and simple verification but makes stateful smart contracts more complex compared to account-based models like Ethereum or Solana.

Open term
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Blockchain General

Blockchain

A distributed, append-only ledger that records transactions in cryptographically linked blocks. Each block contains a hash of the previous block, forming an immutable chain. Nodes in the network maintain copies of the ledger and reach agreement through consensus mechanisms. Blockchains enable trustless, decentralized record-keeping without a central authority.

Open term
Blockchain General

Consensus Mechanism

The protocol by which nodes in a distributed network agree on the current state of the ledger. Common mechanisms include Proof of Work (Bitcoin), Proof of Stake (Ethereum, Solana), and BFT variants. Consensus ensures all honest nodes converge on the same transaction history despite potential network delays or malicious actors.

Open term
Blockchain General

Proof of Stake (PoS)

A consensus mechanism where validators are selected to produce blocks based on the amount of cryptocurrency they have staked (locked) as collateral. PoS is energy-efficient compared to Proof of Work. Misbehaving validators risk losing their stake (slashing). Solana, Ethereum (post-Merge), Cosmos, and Cardano use PoS variants.

Open term
Blockchain General

Proof of Work (PoW)

A consensus mechanism where miners compete to solve computationally expensive puzzles to produce blocks and earn rewards. PoW provides strong security (51% attack resistance) but is energy-intensive. Bitcoin and pre-Merge Ethereum use PoW. The difficulty adjusts to maintain target block times regardless of total network hash power.

Open term