Zano sets Hard Fork 6 for block 3,833,000; adds Gateway Addresses

Zano confirmed block 3,833,000 as the on-chain activation height for Hard Fork 6, which is expected to go live between Aug. 25 and 27, 2026. Network operators have roughly eight weeks from the announcement to upgrade software before the expected activation window.

The upgrade introduces Gateway Addresses, an account-style address type intended for exchanges, decentralized exchanges, bridges and other infrastructure providers. Gateway Addresses provide a directly tracked balance and faster synchronization, allowing services to handle native ZANO and Confidential Assets with account-style workflows while leaving personal privacy addresses unchanged.

HF6 extends bridgeless transfers to be two-way. Native ZANO and supported Confidential Assets will be able to move to Ethereum, TON and Solana, and assets from those chains will be able to move into Zano. The design is non-custodial and permits users to return assets to Zano for private transactions.

The hard fork also bundles security and infrastructure upgrades. Wallet-file encryption has been strengthened to make stolen or copied wallet files harder to crack. Per-output payment IDs are added to simplify exchange and merchant accounting without exposing recipient privacy. Developers receive safer encryption and decryption RPCs, and the peer-to-peer layer is hardened against denial-of-service attacks with SOCKS5 proxy support to reduce the impact of traffic-flooding on nodes.

Zano announced the updated wallet is available now and that wallets, miners, pools, node operators and other infrastructure providers must install HF6-compatible software before the activation block.

On X, Zano wrote that HF6 follows more than a year of development and “opens Zano up to the rest of crypto, while keeping the privacy at its core fully intact.” Project leaders are engaged in talks with Thorchain and other decentralized exchanges about post-HF6 integrations aimed at opening DeFi liquidity pools and broader exchange listings for ZANO.

Quinten van Welzen, a project leader, commented that the upgrade “could make a real difference for Zano’s adoption, as it opens an easier path for ZANO into DeFi liquidity pools and broader exchange listings.”

Zano’s previous privacy design created integration friction for platforms that rely on account-style balances and fast synchronization. HF6 provides a parallel address option for services while preserving existing private-address behavior for individual users.