Shielded Labs said the Zcash Ironwood network upgrade might be delayed. Exchanges, mining pools and wallet providers need more time to prepare before the planned late July activation. The upgrade is part of a broader migration from the zcashd node and wallet software to the Z3 stack. The Z3 stack includes the Zebra node client, Zaino data service and Zallet wallet software. According to a July 3 post by Shielded Labs executive director Jason McGee, feedback showed mixed readiness among ecosystem participants. Some operators can complete the migration before activation while others require additional time. McGee said no decision has been made to postpone Ironwood. The overlap between the Z3 migration and the Ironwood activation creates a scheduling challenge. Ironwood was proposed after researchers disclosed an “infinity” bug in Orchard, the primary shielded transaction pool. The bug could theoretically allow unlimited counterfeit ZEC creation without detection, though no exploitation was observed. The upgrade replaces Orchard with a new shielded pool and adds an accounting checkpoint to ensure the circulating supply remains within protocol limits. Earlier, developers temporarily disabled Orchard transactions after disclosure while Ironwood development continued. Zooko Wilcox said recent security reviews found no new serious vulnerabilities. He added that developers are continuing verification before activation. Discussions continue on whether extra preparation time is needed before the network upgrade proceeds.