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Zcash activates Ironwood upgrade to replace Orchard privacy pool
The upgrade retires Orchard, trapping any potentially counterfeit ZEC and adding a new circulating supply accounting system.
Zcash has activated the Ironwood network upgrade, replacing its Orchard shielded pool with a new private pool, according to Decrypt. The change is designed to prevent potentially counterfeit coins from leaving the retired Orchard pool while keeping transaction privacy intact.
Ironwood also introduces quantum-resistant transaction records and formally verified cryptography aimed at reducing future security risks. The move comes weeks after a critical Orchard vulnerability prompted a sharp market reaction and raised questions about Zcash's supply.
Decrypt reports that Ironwood retires an Orchard pool holding roughly 3.7 million ZEC, about $1.7 billion, and begins migrating users into the new shielded pool. It also brings new accounting rules for Zcash's circulating supply, using a “turnstile” system proposed by founder Zooko Wilcox to ensure no more ZEC can leave the old pool than was verifiably deposited.
Developers began work on the upgrade in May after security researcher Taylor Hornby identified a four-year-old Orchard flaw that could have enabled counterfeit ZEC creation. An emergency patch followed in June, but shielded transactions hide their details, leaving uncertainty about whether the vulnerability had been exploited, which contributed to Zcash falling 38% during the ensuing rout. With Ironwood now live, Zcash has also gained the additional security mechanisms, though critics such as privacy infrastructure provider Nym have argued migration can create a temporary privacy risk.