Zcash Unveils Ironwood Pool Following Orchard Bug That Raised Supply Verification Concerns

Zcash developers are moving ahead with a proposed upgrade called Ironwood after a recently resolved bug in the Orchard shielded pool raised concerns about the possibility of undetected counterfeit creation.

Following the discovery, the Zcash Open Development Lab has joined forces with the Zcash Foundation and Shielded Labs, together with Tachyon and Valar Group, to strengthen the system through formal verification and independent security audits of the privacy protocol.

As part of the proposed changes, the existing Orchard pool would be gradually retired for new deposits and internal transfers, with all funds required to pass through a “turnstile” checkpoint before entering the new Ironwood system.

The update follows last week’s disclosure from auditors, who confirmed a vulnerability in Orchard that has since been fixed. They found no evidence that user funds were affected or that Zcash’s total supply had changed. However, the flaw could have theoretically allowed the undetected creation of additional ZEC within the shielded pool.

Source: Zcash Open Development Lab