Transactions

ZEC is a widely-used digital asset for payments, offering strong privacy features that make it suitable for various transactions like paying friends, making purchases, or donating. To maximize privacy and security, it is essential to understand how different types of transactions work within Zcash.

Shielded Transactions

Shielded transactions occur when you move ZEC into your shielded wallet. Your shielded wallet address starts with a U or Z. When sending shielded transactions, you're ensuring that you, and the people you're transacting with, are keeping a level of privacy not possible on other P2P payment networks. Sending a shielded transaction is very easy, you just have to make sure of two things. The first is that you're using the right wallet type. The easiest way to ensure that you're using the right type of wallet is by downloading a wallet. The second important thing is moving ZEC to a shielded wallet. When withdrawing ZEC from an exchange, you need to know whether the exchange supports shielded or transparent withdrawals. If they support shielded withdrawals, you can simply withdraw ZEC to your shielded address. If the exchange only supports transparent withdrawals, then you need to use YWallet and autoshield your ZEC once received. Using only shielded transactions to send and receive funds is the best way maintain privacy and reduce the risk of leaking data

Transparent Transactions

Transparent transactions work similarly but lack privacy protections, making transaction details publicly visible on the blockchain. Transparent transactions should be avoided when privacy is a priority. Note: Transparent wallets may encounter issues due to ZIP-317, which requires fees proportional to transaction complexity. Default fees may lead to rejection or delays, making fee customization crucial.