Zcash Q3 Report: Ironwood Activation, 87% Orchard Balance Migration

Pine Analytics released the Zcash Q3 2026 report. Ironwood was activated on July 28 at block 3,428,143, and within five weeks, holders migrated 87% of their Orchard balance, with the new pool holding 3.84M ZEC as of August 31. The shielded supply increased by 9.9% to 4.86M ZEC, with the shielded ratio rebounding from 26.3% to 28.7%, recovering 440K from the 745K unshielded ZEC in June.

The price of ZEC rose from $407 on June 30 to $836 on August 31, an increase of 106%. Grayscale ZCSH converted to a spot ETF, with assets growing from $155 million to $346 million. Mining difficulty rose by 35%, reaching an all-time high, with two corporate miners committing approximately $65 million in hash power. NU7 has no mainnet height yet, and holders will vote until September 14 to decide whether to launch before September 30 with a 25-second block time and smooth issuance; there are still 470K ZEC remaining in Orchard.