Zcash contributors have set a timeline for the NU7 network upgrade that will end support for version 4 transactions, the only format that can spend funds from the legacy Sprout shielded pool. Under the schedule posted by Sean Bowe on the Zcash Community Forum, testnet activation is planned for October 6, a final decision is due by October 20, and mainnet activation is targeted for November 5, 2026.
ZIP 2003, the proposal behind the change, does not burn or unissue Sprout balances, but it removes the spend path currently available to those notes. Sprout was the original shielded pool introduced with Zcash in 2016 and has since been replaced by Sapling and Orchard. Daira-Emma Hopwood, an Electric Coin Company engineer and the proposal's author, wrote that it is not proposed to burn Sprout funds, while the document also urges holders to move them out of the Sprout pool without delay.
Zooko Wilcox, co-founder of Zcash, amplified the warning beyond developer channels, and forum threads have collected recovery guidance for old wallet files and legacy addresses. The practical constraint is mainly a wallet problem: zcashd, the only maintained wallet supporting Sprout, is being deprecated, leaving holders with deprecated clients or untouched zc-prefixed addresses. Transparent ZEC and funds in newer shielded pools are not affected.
The Sprout restriction is part of a broader upgrade that also reduces Zcash block time from 75 seconds to 25 seconds. At the time of reporting, ZEC traded around $1,627.82, up about 8% on the day and roughly 40% over the past week, while the proposal still remained in Draft status ahead of the October decision window.
