An analysis of Zcash's private transactions

Zcash has been heralded as one of the leading cryptocurrencies in the blockchain space when it comes to privacy. The underlying protocol was developed through the study of scientists from MIT, Technion, Johns Hopkins, Tel Aviv University and UC Berkeley. The cryptocurrency utilizes a form of Zero-Knowledge Proofs (zk-SNARKs) that allows for transactions to be verified without knowing the sender, receiver, or the amount being sent. 

While Zcash provides all of these privacy features, transactions made on its network are not private by default (T addresses). Users must opt-in with their funds to a Z address to experience the privacy offered by shielded addresses.