Odaily Planet Daily report: ZODL, a core contributor to the Zcash ecosystem, has announced a collaboration with Tachyon, Valar Group, Zcash Foundation, and Shielded Labs to propose a new network upgrade and the private pool Ironwood. Ironwood will be built upon the existing Orchard protocol and further enhance security through formal verification and additional independent audits.
Under the plan, the entire ZEC supply in Orchard will be migrated to Ironwood via the "Turnstile" mechanism, which allows anyone to independently verify the circulating supply of Zcash, ensuring that the amount of ZEC in circulation does not exceed the amount that has actually entered the new pool. After the upgrade, the Orchard pool will disable new deposits and internal transactions, permitting funds to be migrated to Ironwood exclusively through the Turnstile.
ZODL stated that the recently discovered Orchard integrity issue has been resolved through responsible disclosure and coordinated escalation. There is currently no evidence that the vulnerability was exploited, nor any indication that user funds, privacy, or the total supply of ZEC have been affected. Wallets supporting Orchard will offer a one-click migration feature following the upgrade, and users’ existing Orchard receiving addresses will remain functional. The team plans to activate Ironwood after the end of zcashd support in late July 2026 (block height 3,417,100), though the exact timing will depend on testing, review, and ecosystem coordination progress.