Gemini enables shielded Zcash withdrawals to Ironwood pool

Gemini now supports shielded Zcash withdrawals directly to the Ironwood pool, making it one of the first regulated crypto exchanges to offer the feature. The move comes just two days after Zcash’s NU6.3 network upgrade went live on July 28, activating Ironwood and permanently sealing the previous Orchard shielded pool. What happened and why Ironwood exists The Ironwood pool activated at Zcash block height 3,428,143 on July 28. It launched with a zero balance by design, because the entire point was to start fresh after the Orchard pool’s security issue was identified. Orchard previously held approximately $1.7 billion worth of ZEC. That’s a lot of money sitting in a pool with a known counterfeiting vulnerability, which is why Zcash developers sealed it entirely and built Ironwood as its successor. Users with funds stuck in the now-sealed Orchard pool need to migrate their assets through a “turnstile” mechanism, moving coins from one shielded environment to the new, clean one. On Ironwood’s first day alone, 176,000 ZEC, worth roughly $80 to $81 million, successfully transitioned into the new pool. The Ironwood pool was developed with contributions from multiple organizations, includi...