According to CoinMeta, as reported by Coindesk, the shielded bitcoin technical solution introduces privacy features similar to Zcash to the mainnet without altering the underlying consensus rules of Bitcoin. This protocol utilizes zero-knowledge proof mechanisms to allow users to conceal the flow of funds and their balances at the mainnet level, while ensuring that network nodes can verify the legitimacy of transactions. The technology relies on an independently operating meta-protocol architecture and does not require soft-fork voting or code restructuring.