In brief – About 12,224 ZEC, worth roughly $15 million to $16 million, remains in Zcash’s original privacy pool, Sprout. – The NU7 upgrade will make those coins unspendable unless holders move them before activation. – The upgrade also promises transactions that confirm three…
mes faster, while removing outdated technology from the network. Zcash is preparing to shut down its oldest privacy technology, potentially leaving millions of dollars in cryptocurrency inaccessible to their owners—even if they still have the passwords and private keys needed to access their wallets
Approximately 12,224 ZEC remain in Sprout, the cryptocurrency’s original privacy pool, according to ZecStats data updated Thursday. At recent market prices, those holdings represent roughly $15 million to $16 million that could become effectively frozen when the network activates its NU7 upgrade. “NU7 (block 3,543,405) makes v4 transactions invalid, so what remains in Sprout is unspendable: frozen, not burned,” Zecstats says in its information card for Sprout. The upgrade is scheduled for block 3,543,405, expected Thursday evening in the United States.
The exact deadline depends on how quickly the blockchain processes new blocks, rather than a predetermined clock time. Why is Zcash freezing millions in crypto? Unlike Bitcoin, where transactions are generally visible to anyone examining the blockchain, Zcash allows users to conceal transaction amounts and the addresses involved.