Sprout pool about to get ghosted: Zcash's NU7 will leave old ZEC on read 💸

ZEC holders with funds sitting in Zcash's legacy Sprout shielded pool are running out of time to move them before the network's next protocol change makes those coins unspendable. Under Zcash Improvement Proposal-2003, the planned NU7 upgrade would stop accepting the older transaction format used to spend Sprout funds, rendering any ZEC left in the pool unable to be moved. The proposal does not burn Sprout funds and leaves open the possibility of restoring access later, though it warns that holders may never be able to spend coins left in the pool after the upgrade.

A user posting as "vaspholdings" on the Zcash Community Forum urged ZEC holders to inspect old wallets on Sunday, noting those wallets may contain Sprout ZEC, transparent ZEC or both. Only balances in the Sprout pool face the proposed restriction, and Zooko Wilcox, Zcash co-founder, shared the warning on X. NU7 is scheduled to activate on testnet on Oct. 6, with Zcash expecting to decide on Oct. 20 whether to proceed with the targeted Nov. 5 mainnet activation.

Beyond the Sprout changes, the upgrade would cut Zcash's target block time from 75 seconds to 25 seconds, while planned issuance adjustments are designed to preserve the network's existing halving schedule. ZEC traded at $1,627.82 at the time of writing, up 8% in the past 24 hours and nearly 40% over the past week, according to CoinGecko data.