Zcash Community Forum - June 2026 Monthly Update
Hi everyone,
Monthly update from the Ledger integration team. This is a longer one - we have three things to cover: general progress, an account of the emergency soft-fork response, and a note on the upcoming Ironwood upgrade.
1. Integration progress
Zcash Device App (Rust)
- Implementation of UFVK sharing and Orchard Unified Address generation in the device app has been rolled out 100%.
- Work is ongoing for Orchard transactions and ClearSign, including Orchard-to-Orchard (private send), Orchard-to-transparent, and transparent-to-Orchard transfers. The implementation has proven more complex than initially anticipated. We are currently targeting completion of the core transaction logic by end of June, with the UI layer planned for July.
Ledger Wallet (Desktop)
- The shielded synchronization process is complete and thoroughly tested. As a benchmark, we can scan the full Orchard history from the birthday block in under 65 minutes.
- The private send and receive flows have been architected across three layers (ZCash library, Coin Module, UI). The ZCash library is targeting end of June; the Ledger Wallet Desktop integration is planned for July.
- Most major issues identified during QA are being resolved.*
2. NU6.2 soft-fork response - what we did and where things stand
On the evening of June 1 (UTC), the Zcash network maintainers notified us of a critical vulnerability in zcashd and zebrad requiring an immediate coordinated soft-fork (NU6.2) with a narrow window. This section is an honest account of our response.
What the upgrade required from Ledger:
The NU6.2 soft-fork introduced a new consensus Branch ID. Every piece of software at Ledger that constructs or validates Zcash transactions needed to be updated with this new ID - that spans our backend node, both Zcash device apps, and the Ledger Wallet application layer.
What we shipped:
| Component | Action Taken | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Zcash node (zcashd) | Emergency rebuild and deployment overnight | Released June 2 |
| Ledger Wallet Desktop (LWD 4.6.1) | Branch ID hotfix to unblock users managing ZEC | Released June 3 |
| Ledger Wallet Mobile (LWM 4.7) | Branch ID update | Released June 9 |
| Zcash Rust app v3.0.1 (transparent) | Branch ID fix, updated on My Ledger | Released June 15 |
What is still being worked on:
- The Zaino indexer (our internal Zcash light-client node) is currently not operational on our infrastructure following the Branch ID change. This does not impact users — shielded transaction sync is behind a feature toggle that is switched off in production. We are working on restoring the indexer and will update once resolved.
- The legacy Zondax shielded app also required a Branch ID update. During QA testing we identified stability issues that are being investigated. We will communicate separately when this update is confirmed deployed.
- Transparent send today: With the above fixes in place, transparent ZEC transactions and swaps work normally through Ledger Wallet
3. Ironwood / NU7 - what we know and what it means for us
The Zcash ecosystem (ZODL, Tachyon, Valar Group, Zcash Foundation, Shielded Labs) has announced Ironwood, a new shielded pool targeting activation in late July 2026. Ironwood reuses the existing Orchard cryptographic primitives with formal verification and re-audit, and introduces a turnstile that allows anyone to audit the circulating supply. The ZODL team has advised us to target Ironwood directly rather than deploying a standalone Orchard integration.
Our current position:
- The in-flight Orchard shielded-send work (~80%) carries over to Ironwood - the cryptographic primitives (Pallas/Halo2/RedPallas), sync, witness computation, key derivation, and coin selection are pool-agnostic. We are refactoring the remaining work to be Ironwood-aware rather than abandoning it.
- The specification is materializing: ZIP 2005 (Orchard Quantum Recoverability) is published, the Ironwood spec and circuit are in active development, and the transaction format has been decided as V6 (V5 with an appended Ironwood bundle). However, the final consensus parameters - branch ID and activation height - are not yet finalized upstream, and the deployment ZIP is still in progress. We cannot commit to a precise delivery date until those parameters are frozen.
- Late July 2026 is an ecosystem activation target, not a Ledger delivery date. We will need additional time after spec freeze to implement, test, and audit.
We want to be transparent with the community: active development continues and the work completed to date carries forward into the Ironwood path. However, the combination of the NU6.2 emergency response and the Ironwood scope change means the original delivery timeline needs to be reassessed. We are not yet in a position to commit to a revised date - that depends on the ZODL team finalising the Ironwood consensus parameters and deployment ZIP, which are still in progress. Once that information is available, we will have a full picture of what remains and when we can deliver. Expect a concrete revised timeline in our next monthly update.
Thanks for your patience on the communication cadence. We will continue posting monthly updates as things develop.
– Abhi
Product Consultant, Coin & Blockchain Integration, Ledger