I know how to send a shielded transaction from my ZCash4Win wallet, but what, actually, happens when I mash the send button?
I understand zero-knowledge proofs and all that, mind you, but do Z transactions go onto the zcash blockchain? Do they get stored at all? I’m really struggling to explain this aspect of it, and the ability for ZCash to send truly private transactions is a defining quality, something I’d like to explain to others more clearly.
Thanks for any help!
Check out this talk with the great Eli Ben-Sasson. I have great respect for this guy…he is a legend in my book. There are some really great minds behind this cryptography and its a blessing to be able to learn more about the magic of math/crypt0. This is some truly amazing stuff, and it causes you to look at the world differently the more you understand it. The applications of Zero Knowledge could have a great impact on society.
These few talks I have linked you are very interesting and they might help you piece things together better in your mind. It is very difficult to explain what you are asking here…at least for me. Hope this is of some use to you on your journey further down the rabbit hole…
Here are a couple really great ones with Zooko:
Thank you, yes I grasp the concept of zero knowledge proofs. Having a BS in math helps that part along 
Though barely…ZK stuff is really far out man…amazing, actually 
What I’m looking to know is the actual nuts and bolts of how the transaction takes place. Is it one of those situations where the Z-transaction is essentially a peer-to-peer relationship where the ZEC are released once the gate keeping requirements of the ZK scheme are met?
I’m more looking for a “Shielded Transactions for Dummies” summary of how it works
Have you seen the Explaining Starks series on the blog section of this site? https://z.cash/tag/explainers.html