Zcash developers have finalized the Ironwood consensus rules, marking a key step toward deployment. The teams say they have “settled the finer details” and are now shifting to coding, specifications, and ecosystem outreach, as well as audits and formal verification to prove the design is sound.
Ironwood adds a new shielded pool that uses the same Orchard protocol as today’s pool, but with tighter controls. This pool will handle new private ZEC transactions while keeping users’ familiar unified addresses and drawing a clear line between old and new funds.
Developers are adding a flag in the Orchard circuit that network rules can enable or disable. When enabled in a pool, it blocks payments to other users but still allows wallets to create change notes, preserving everyday privacy while preventing unrestricted transfers within that pool.
After Ironwood activates, the network will switch this flag on in the old Orchard pool. Consensus rules will also stop new value from entering that pool by constraining the valueBalance field, so activity there will gradually wind down as the new pool takes over.
Binding Circulating ZEC Using the Turnstile
Wallets will route new payments to Orchard receivers through the Ironwood pool instead, because the old Orchard pool will not process payments. Wallet software will also guide users to migrate their balances away from the old pool over time. This all happens inside existing unified addresses, so users do not need to manage a brand‑new address format.
The design relies on Zcash’s existing “turnstile” mechanism, which serves as an accounting checkpoint between pools. The amount of ZEC that can exit the old pool and enter the new one cannot exceed what legitimately entered the old pool. Therefore, the system design ensures that the total ZEC anyone can transact with never rises above the amount that is supposed to exist.
As users move funds through the turnstile, the migration pattern will also provide evidence that counterfeiting never occurred. If no excess coins are found during this process, the community gains greater confidence that earlier bugs did not inflate the supply. With the rules now agreed, the teams say they will keep working on implementations and audits and promise to “share more soon” as reviews finish.
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