Much-Anticipated Update for Major Altcoin Arrives Today

The NU6.3 network update, codenamed Ironwood, has been activated on the Zcash mainnet. The new update introduces a new privacy pool to more securely verify the integrity of the $ZEC supply. Zcash has previously faced heavy criticism regarding its inability to verify the supply.

Zcash Open Development Lab (ZODL) announced that the Ironwood upgrade has been successfully activated on mainnet block 3,428,143. The update introduces a new privacy pool aimed at enhancing the security of the Zcash network and enabling independent verification of the circulating $ZEC supply.

With the introduction of Ironwood, certain restrictions will be applied to the existing Orchard privacy pool. Funds transferred from Orchard to Ironwood will need to pass through a “transition mechanism” before reaching the new pool. This mechanism aims to detect potential discrepancies in the $ZEC supply and maintain supply integrity.

According to Zcash, Ironwood was developed as a result of ecosystem-wide efforts following a vulnerability discovered in the Orchard privacy pool at the end of May. While the vulnerability was addressed with an emergency network upgrade, there is no evidence that the vulnerability was exploited, resulting in user funds being lost or the total $ZEC supply being affected.

Built on the updated Orchard protocol, Ironwood incorporates formal verification methods and independent security audits. These steps aim to make the protocol more resilient against potential future supply integrity vulnerabilities.

Users will need to migrate their existing assets from the Orchard pool to the new Ironwood privacy pool. Wallets that support Ironwood will provide a migration method for users. Those using the ZODL application can complete the migration process through the most current version of the application without creating a new wallet or changing their existing address.

Zcash stated that Ironwood would enhance the verifiability of the $ZEC supply while protecting the network’s privacy features, creating a stronger, long-term security infrastructure for the protocol.

*This is not investment advice.