Zcash has recovered about 45 percent from its recent low after developers proposed the Ironwood upgrade to address a supply verification issue. The privacy-focused cryptocurrency traded near $437 on Monday, though it remains down 22 percent for the week. The move comes after a patched bug in the Orchard pool triggered last week's sell-off.
Developers including Shielded Labs, the Zcash Foundation, and the Zcash Open Development Lab proposed the Ironwood plan on June 6. It would create a new privacy pool with repaired code and allow anyone running Zcash software to verify that the total supply of ZEC matches the correct amount. The upgrade aims to restore confidence by letting users confirm no counterfeit coins exist without relying on developer assurances. As funds move from the old Orchard pool, any excess ZEC would either be exposed or destroyed, potentially showing whether the flaw was exploited. Shielded Labs has stated that abuse of the bug, which went undetected since 2022, appears unlikely. The proposal has drawn comments from investor Chamath Palihapitiya, who noted it would let node operators verify the supply is clean. Developers have not set a firm timeline, saying building, testing, and coordinating the changes across the network may take longer than expected.
