Zcash Sprout Pool: Why You Must Move Old ZEC Before November 5

If you have ZEC sitting in a wallet file from 2016 or 2017 and your Zcash addresses begin with the letters zc, then your balance is in what is known as the Sprout pool, and you should move it. The reason is set out in a change proposal numbered ZIP 2003, due to ship with the NU7 network upgrade: it disallows transactions of the old v4 format, and that is the only format with which Sprout funds can be spent at all. The planned activation date for NU7 on mainnet is November 5, 2026. One point of context before the panic sets in: this is not about all ZEC, only about the balance in this single, oldest shielded pool. Anyone who keeps their Zcash on an exchange, uses a modern wallet, or created their addresses only in recent years is very unlikely to be affected. Those affected are the small group who have not looked in years. Which is precisely why they would otherwise hear about it too late. What the Sprout pool in Zcash is and why it concerns you now A value pool in Zcash is a separate accounting circle with its own cryptographic machinery, holding shielded funds. Zcash has renewed that machinery several times over the years, and each renewal created a new pool rather than rebuilding...