Zcash Ironwood Upgrade Nears as Developers Work to Restore Confidence After ZEC Crash
Zcash developers say the Ironwood upgrade is nearing activation, starting on testnet, and could help restore confidence in ZEC’s supply integrity after a critical Orchard shielded-pool bug raised fears of undetectable counterfeiting. Ironwood introduces a new shielded pool and accounting system intended to let anyone verify circulating supply without exposing transaction details. The upgrade follows the May vulnerability disclosure, which triggered a sharp price crash and left developers unable to prove whether counterfeit coins had been created. Developers say technical readiness is improving, with enough hash rate signaling support for mainnet deployment. The main remaining risk is ecosystem readiness: wallets, exchanges, and mining pools must migrate from legacy Zcashd to the new Z3 stack, including Zebra, Zaino, and Zallet. Testnet activation is expected soon, with the goal of completing Ironwood and the Z3 migration by late July, while formal verification and possible extra audits continue.
