Zcash to retire legacy Sprout pool, freezing $16M in ZEC

Privacy-focused cryptocurrency Zcash will retire Sprout, a legacy privacy pool launched in 2016, through its NU7 network upgrade, CoinDesk reported. About 12,226 ZEC worth roughly $16 million remains in Sprout, and once the upgrade takes effect, use of those assets will be restricted even for holders of the private keys, effectively freezing the funds. The upgrade is aimed at retiring Sprout’s legacy transaction format to reduce software complexity and security risks. Holders of ZEC in the pool need to withdraw their assets before the upgrade. Assuming Zcash’s average block time remains 75 seconds, the NU7 upgrade is expected to take effect at 2:30 a.m. UTC on Nov. 6.