What is Shielded Transaction?

Shielded transactions are a unique transaction type that conceals specific data about a transaction, such as the amount being transferred or the involved account addresses, in a way which is still verifiable on the blockchain. While different blockchain projects deploy different methods to enable the use of shielded transactions, many of these methods involve zk-SNARK cryptography to obfuscate transaction data prior to the transaction being recorded in a blockchain.