Shielding Tokens

Learn how to shield your tokens for complete privacy.

What is Shielding?

Shielding converts your public tokens into private tokens protected by Zero-Knowledge proofs. Once shielded, your balance and transactions become completely invisible on the blockchain.

How Shielding Works

Public Wallet          Shielding Process         Private Wallet
(Visible)         ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━>        (Hidden)

10.5 SOL               Generate ZK Proof          10.5 SOL
                       Lock on public side        (Invisible)
                       Mint on private side

Shielding Process

Step 1: Check Public Balance

$ balance

Public Balance:  10.5 SOL
Shielded Balance: 0 SOL

Step 2: Shield Tokens

Command:

$ shield <amount>

Example:

$ shield 5.0

⏳ Generating ZK proof...
⏳ Submitting to Solana...
✓ Successfully shielded 5.0 SOL

ZK Proof Hash: 0x7a8f3e2d1c0b9a8f7e6d5c4b3a2f1e0d
Transaction: https://solscan.io/tx/abc123...

New Balances:
Public:   5.5 SOL (10.5 - 5.0)
Shielded: 5.0 SOL

Step 3: Verify Shielding

Check your updated balances:

$ balance

Public Balance:  5.5 SOL
Shielded Balance: 5.0 SOL  ✅

Important Notes

Gas Fees

⚠️ Shielding requires gas fees (approximately 0.001-0.005 SOL)

Make sure to keep some SOL in your public wallet for fees:

# Shield amount = Public Balance - Gas Reserve
$ shield 5.0  # Leaves ~5.5 SOL for future gas

Shielding Time

• ZK Proof Generation: 2-5 seconds

• Transaction Confirmation: 1-3 seconds

• Total Time: ~5-10 seconds

Minimum Amount

Minimum shielding amount: 0.01 SOL

$ shield 0.005

✗ Error: Amount below minimum (0.01 SOL)

Advanced Shielding

Shield All

Shield entire public balance (minus gas):

$ shield all

⏳ Calculating maximum amount...
⏳ Shielding 10.495 SOL (0.005 reserved for gas)
✓ Complete!

Shield Specific Tokens

Shield SPL tokens:

$ shield 100 USDC

⏳ Shielding 100 USDC...
✓ Successfully shielded 100 USDC

Batch Shielding

Shield multiple assets:

$ shield 5.0 SOL 100 USDC 50 USDT

⏳ Processing 3 shielding operations...
✓ Shielded 5.0 SOL
✓ Shielded 100 USDC  
✓ Shielded 50 USDT

Verification

Check ZK Proof

Verify your shielding proof:

$ verify-proof 0x7a8f3e2d...

✓ Proof Valid
Amount: 5.0 SOL (Hidden)
Timestamp: 2024-01-15 10:30:45 UTC
Status: Confirmed

View on Explorer

Public transaction is visible, but amount and destination are hidden:

Transaction: abc123...
Type: Shield
From: 7xKXt...aLQ8k
To: 0zk (Shielded Pool)
Amount: [HIDDEN]
Status: Success

Common Issues

Issue: Insufficient Balance

$ shield 15.0

✗ Error: Insufficient public balance
Available: 10.5 SOL
Required: 15.0 SOL + gas

Solution: Shield a smaller amount or add more SOL to public wallet.

Issue: Network Congestion

$ shield 5.0

⏳ Network congested, retrying...
✓ Success (took 30 seconds)

Solution: Wait for network to clear or increase gas.

Issue: Failed Proof Generation

$ shield 5.0

✗ Error: Failed to generate ZK proof

Solution: Retry the operation:

$ shield 5.0 --retry

Security Best Practices

1. ✅ Always verify balances after shielding

2. ✅ Keep some public SOL for gas fees

3. ✅ Save transaction hashes for records

4. ✅ Don't shield entire balance - reserve for gas

5. ✅ Use secure connections when shielding

FAQ

Q: Can anyone see my shielded balance? A: No, shielded balances are completely hidden using Zero-Knowledge proofs.

Q: Can I unshield later? A: Yes, you can unshield anytime back to your public wallet.

Q: Are shielding fees high? A: No, typically 0.001-0.005 SOL per transaction.

Q: How long do shielded tokens stay private? A: Forever, until you choose to unshield them.

Next Steps

• Private Transfers - Send shielded tokens privately

• Privacy Mixer - Enhance privacy further

• Unshielding - Convert back to public

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