Shielded Labs has suggested that the development of Ironwood’s Zcash network may be delayed, citing concerns about the readiness of exchanges, mining pools and wallet providers before it goes live in late July.
Summary
- Shielded Labs says the development of Ironwood for Zcash may be delayed as ecosystem participants need more time to prepare.
- Exchanges, wallets and mining pools migrate simultaneously from zcashd to the new Z3 software stack.
- Ironwood was created to protect the secure supply of Zcash after the Orchard “infinity” bug was exposed.
According to a July 3 X post on the Zcash community forum by Shielded Labs executive director Jason McGee, the network is trying to complete two major changes at once. Alongside Ironwood, infrastructure providers are expected to replace Zcash’s long-running node and wallet software, zcashd, with new software known as the Z3 stack.
McGee said feedback from ecosystem participants indicated mixed levels of readiness. While some operators believe they can complete the migration before the planned opening window, others have indicated that they will need more time to implement and test the new software. He added that no decision has been made to postpone Ironwood.
Infrastructure migration remains the biggest obstacle
As part of the transition, Zcash is abandoning zcashd, which has long been used by exchanges, wallets and other network operators to connect to the blockchain and process transactions. Its replacements include Zebra for running network nodes, Zaino for blockchain data services and Zallet for wallet operations.
According to the official Zcash migration guide, some features found in zcashd will not be directly replaceable, meaning operators may need to change their infrastructure before switching to the new stack. McGee also said that both Zallet and Zaino are still in development and not yet considered ready for production, making shipping times uncertain for other ecosystem participants.
The overlap between software migration and Ironwood’s operations created a significant challenge. Delaying Ironwood could extend uncertainty about Zcash’s secure supply, while proceeding without adequate preparation could leave exchanges, mining pools, and wallet providers struggling to complete the migration safely.
Ironwood is designed to protect the secure supply of Zcash
Ironwood was proposed after researchers identified a “persistent” bug in Orchard, a secure Zcash workstation. According to the development team, the vulnerability may have allowed an attacker to create an unlimited amount of fake ZEC within Orchard without immediate detection. The developers also said they found no evidence that the bug had ever been exploited.
Because Orchard’s privacy protections prevent anyone from proving that no fake coins have been created, Ironwood introduced a secure replacement pool and closed Orchard to new activity. Funds exiting Orchard will pass through an accounting checkpoint that prevents more ZEC from exiting than originally deposited, allowing users to ensure that circulating funds stay within the agreement’s intended limits.
Earlier this year, developers temporarily disabled Orchard transactions for an emergency network update after uncovering a vulnerability while work at Ironwood was underway. The upcoming development creates a permanent solution aimed at restoring trust in the secure provision of the network.
Meanwhile, Zcash founder Zooko Wilcox said a recent security review did not reveal any major vulnerabilities in the new application. He added that the developers are continuing to validate the developed system before Ironwood goes live, while discussions are still ongoing about whether more preparation time is needed for the ecosystem participants before further development of the network.
