#zcash Zcash to freeze $16M in its oldest privacy pool with NU7 upgrade
Zcash is about to retire its oldest privacy pool. When it does, about $16 million in
$ZEC still sitting there will become unspendable.
The cutoff arrives with the NU7 network upgrade, scheduled to activate around November 5–6, 2026, at block height 3,543,405. Anyone with coins left in the Sprout pool after that block will still own them. They just won’t be able to move them.
What NU7 actually changes
NU7 disables version 4 transactions. The catch is that version 4 transactions are the only way to reach the Sprout shielded pool. A shielded pool is a section of the Zcash ledger where transaction details are kept private. Sprout was the first one, launched back in 2016.
Sprout currently holds approximately 12,226
$ZEC . With zec recently averaging $1,300 to $1,320, that stash comes to around $16 million.
The coins are not burned, and nobody is confiscating private keys. The zec stays counted in the total supply. But once NU7 is live, any attempt to transact with Sprout funds will fail. There is currently no mechanism to recover them afterward.
The migration is already underway
Holders appear to be getting the message. The Sprout pool held roughly 22,300
$ZEC in mid-October. It now sits at approximately 12,226
$ZEC , a drop of a little under half in a short stretch.
The fix for holders is simple on paper: move Sprout funds into a supported wallet before activation. After the upgrade, that option disappears.
Only version 4 transactions are affected. The newer Sapling, Orchard, and Ironwood pools will keep running normally and won’t be touched by NU7.
Why Sprout is being shut down
Sprout has been on borrowed time for a while. For several years, the pool has been limited to withdrawals only, meaning funds could leave but not come in.
Zcash has steadily layered newer privacy pools on top of the original design. Sapling, Orchard, and Ironwood each arrived later as part of the network’s ongoing modernization
#Write2Earn #zec $ZEC