Shielded Labs

Shielded Labs

2026-09-19 00:29:37

Shielded Labs says Zcash holder voting is non-binding under rough-consensus governance

Shielded Labs CEO Jason McGee said Zcash uses a "rough consensus" governance model built around multiple stakeholder groups rather than binding token-holder rule. According to McGee, votes by holders and community committees are used to gauge sentiment and help inform decisions, but they do not carry binding force. He said protocol changes typically need broad backing from both community committees and holders, while the final outcome depends on the stakeholders that actually run and use the network, including node operators, miners, exchanges, wallets, and users. McGee added that Zcash governance relies on rough consensus across holders and community groups, and that holder polling is meant to measure opinion rather than serve as binding on-chain voting. In his description, no single group can push through a protocol change on its own. He said this structure allows the network to coordinate upgrades when needed while also preventing any one constituency from unilaterally forcing changes.

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Shielded Labs

2026-08-07 04:47:11

Shielded Labs appoints Frank Braun as independent board member

Shielded Labs, a support organization for Zcash, has appointed zSTASH founder Frank Braun as an independent member of its board, according to a post from executive director Jason McGee. McGee described Braun as an active participant in the Zcash community and said his role on the board will be to provide oversight. That oversight is intended to help make sure Shielded Labs stays aligned with its mission while keeping its work centered on improving the security and resilience of Zcash. The appointment adds a community figure with direct ties to the Zcash ecosystem to the organization’s governance structure.

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Zcash

2026-07-27 11:26:51

Zcash sets Ironwood upgrade for July 28 to fix counterfeit ZEC minting flaw

Zcash has scheduled its Ironwood network upgrade, also known as NU6.3, for July 28, 2026 at block height 3,428,143, roughly one week later than originally planned. The upgrade is aimed at fixing a major flaw previously disclosed in the Orchard shielded pool, Zcash’s main privacy transaction system. Shielded Labs said the bug could, in theory, let an attacker mint an unlimited amount of undetectable counterfeit ZEC, though it added that there is no evidence the flaw was ever exploited in practice. Ironwood will address the issue through an on-chain migration that routes all funds leaving the Orchard pool through an accounting checkpoint. Once the migration is complete, full nodes will be able to independently verify that no fake coins entered the new pool, restoring trustless supply verification at the protocol level for the first time since the flaw emerged. Core developer Sean Bowe said major organizations have committed to activating NU6.3 at the scheduled block height, around 8 a.m. Eastern Time on July 28. Most ZEC holders are not expected to take immediate action, as wallet providers plan to offer one-click migration tools without requiring users to replace private keys.

620

Zcash

2026-07-24 03:50:15

Winklevoss Brothers Donate 3,221 ZEC to Back Independent Zcash Development

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss donated 3,221 ZEC, worth about $1.2 million, to Shielded Labs for core Zcash protocol work as the privacy coin ecosystem undergoes restructuring and regulatory pressure eases.

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Zcash

2026-07-03 11:21:30

Zcash Ironwood Upgrade May Be Delayed as Infrastructure Migration Lags

Shielded Labs said the Zcash Ironwood upgrade could face a delay because parts of the ecosystem may need additional time to complete the migration to Z3 software. The concern centers on infrastructure readiness rather than protocol design alone. Exchanges, mining pools and wallet providers still need to finish their software transition and safely prepare their systems before the network upgrade can proceed with lower operational risk. The timing of Ironwood will therefore depend on whether these external service providers are fully aligned and technically ready.

380

Zcash

2026-06-13 21:00:51

Anthropic Mythos AI Audit Finds No New Critical Vulnerabilities in Zcash

Zcash founder Zooko Wilcox said a security audit of the Zcash protocol commissioned by Shielded Labs and conducted with Anthropic’s Mythos AI model found no new critical vulnerabilities. The review followed an earlier discovery by Taylor Hornby, who used Claude Opus 4.8 to identify a four-year-old forgery flaw in the Orchard shielded pool.

520

Zcash

2026-06-13 16:00:52

Anthropic Mythos AI Audit Finds No New Critical Vulnerabilities in Zcash

Zcash founder Zooko Wilcox said a security audit of the Zcash protocol, commissioned by Shielded Labs and conducted with Anthropic’s Mythos AI model, found no new critical vulnerabilities.

560

Zcash

2026-06-13 13:55:25

Zcash Founder Says Claude Mythos Audit Found No More Severe Vulnerabilities

Zcash founder Zooko Wilcox said on X that a security audit conducted with Anthropic’s Claude Mythos AI model did not find “more severe vulnerabilities” in the Zcash protocol. The review was requested by Shielded Labs, a Swiss nonprofit that supports Zcash development.

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