Zcash seals $1.7 billion shielded pool as Ironwood upgrade activates
The upgrade retires Orchard, where a counterfeiting bug sat undetected for four years. Every coin inside now has to leave through a gate that caps withdrawals at verified deposits.
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Summary
- Zcash has activated its Ironwood (NU6.3) upgrade, sealing the Orchard shielded pool that held about 3.66 million ZEC and opening a new private pool that starts with zero coins.
- A previously undisclosed bug in Orchard’s proof circuit could have allowed the creation of counterfeit ZEC without onchain traces, prompting the move to Ironwood and a turnstile mechanism that caps withdrawals to verifiable deposits.
- Ironwood introduces quantum-resilient record-keeping and formally verified proof circuits, but the pace at which users voluntarily migrate funds from Orchard will determine how quickly Zcash’s private supply shifts to the new pool.
