Zcash Users Must Act Now as Old Shielded Pool Migration Deadline Looms

Zcash's shielded pool migration has left some users wondering if their funds are still in the old Orchard pool. To check, users must update their wallet to the current version, let it sync fully, and look for a migration notice.

The network upgrade, known as Ironwood, took effect on July 28, 2026, when a new shielded pool was brought online while sealing the old one. Approximately 3.66 million ZEC were sitting in the Orchard pool at that time, equivalent to around $1.7 billion based on CoinDesk's valuation.

The transition was necessary due to a flaw found in the Orchard pool's proving circuit, which could have allowed counterfeit ZEC to be created without leaving any trace. The issue has not been exploited, but the project rebuilt the entire bookkeeping of the shielded area from scratch to strengthen confidence in the integrity of the Zcash money supply.

The new Ironwood pool brings an additional property: recoverability of balances in case powerful quantum computers break today's cryptography. However, this protection does not apply to holdings in the old pools.