Zcash Users Move $80 Million Into New Ironwood Privacy Pool

Around 176,000 ZEC, worth roughly $81 million, has already moved into Zcash’s newly launched Ironwood shielded pool within the first day of its activation, marking an early step in the network’s transition away from its previous privacy pool.

Small Share of Funds Migrated So Far

The amount transferred represents about 5% of the 3.66 million ZEC that sat in the older Orchard pool at the time of activation. Orchard’s balance has since dropped to roughly 3.51 million ZEC, with around 46,000 ZEC exiting over the past day, according to migration tracking data.

How Zcash’s Pool System Works

Zcash separates funds into different pools representing different generations of its privacy technology. Its transparent pool functions similarly to bitcoin, with all balances and transactions publicly visible, holding about 12.5 million ZEC. Shielded pools, by contrast, conceal transaction amounts and participants. The Sapling pool, launched in 2018, holds around 582,000 ZEC, while Orchard, introduced in 2022, had been the most recent privacy upgrade until this week.

Orchard Pool Now Closed to New Deposits

Following the upgrade, Orchard can no longer accept new funds, meaning its balance can only decrease as coins exit through a mechanism that limits withdrawals to previously verified deposits. Since migration is voluntary, the pace depends on how quickly individual holders, wallets and exchanges choose to move their funds, leaving most of Zcash’s shielded supply currently sitting in a pool that stopped accepting deposits earlier this week.