New York-based cryptography firm [alloc] init has launched Shielded Bitcoin, a metaprotocol designed to bring Zcash-grade transaction privacy to Bitcoin’s base layer without changing Bitcoin’s consensus code. The system uses witness encryption, zero-knowledge proofs, and encrypted notes published directly on the Bitcoin blockchain, while appearing as ordinary Schnorr signature transactions on-chain. No soft forks, trusted setup ceremonies, or third-party operators are required. The major drawback remains storage requirements: approximately 330 terabytes currently versus 600 gigabytes for a typical Bitcoin full node, with a target of 100 gigabytes not yet achieved.
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