Zcash Gains $2.5B After Founder Proposes Ironwood Upgrade

Zcash’s market value increased by roughly $2.5 billion after founder Zooko Wilcox published a proposal for an upgrade called Ironwood. The proposal came after Shielded Labs disclosed a critical bug last week that, before a full patch, could have allowed the creation of unlimited counterfeit ZEC.

Shielded Labs noted that Zcash’s privacy features make it impossible using cryptography alone to prove whether the flaw was exploited. In his proposal, Wilcox wrote that Ironwood would let users confirm the circulating supply immediately upon activation by summing the balances of the active shielded pools.

Ironwood outlines protocol changes intended to reduce the risk of similar problems. The proposal would add a new shielded pool, impose restrictions on transactions that might route counterfeit coins, and recommend security measures such as AI-assisted code audits. The post noted confidence that the vulnerability was not exploited and said a clearer timeline will be available as implementation plans are developed.

Work on fixes has involved the Zcash Foundation, Tachyon Group, Valar Group and the Zcash Open Development Lab. Developers wrote that Ironwood ideas will be discussed and refined before any activation, and that users would gain the ability to verify supply once the upgrade is live.

Market data showed Zcash’s market capitalization fell to about $5 billion after the bug disclosure, then recovered to nearly $7.5 billion after the proposal. That level remains about 30% below a recent peak of $10.48 billion. The token’s price rose about 6% to roughly $445 over the weekend. Other privacy-focused digital assets also moved during the same period.

Wilcox wrote, ‘Ironwood would allow users to verify that the circulating supply of Zcash is correct.’ Mert Mumtaz, CEO of Solana infrastructure firm Helius Labs, called the upgrade ‘extremely bullish’ and described it as an ambitious response that adds transaction logic to limit similar flaws in the future. Mumtaz added that sharp price swings are common in crypto and attributed part of the recent volatility to broader market pressure.

Developers expect further discussion of the proposals and a more concrete timeline as planning continues.