Grayscale said Zcash’s allocation of 20% of block rewards to development has helped fund privacy and security upgrades through bear markets and periods of weak token performance. Miners receive the remaining 80%. The current structure directs 8% of rewards to Zcash Community Grants and 12% to the Coinholder-Directed Retroactive Grants Program. Ahead of Zcash’s 10th anniversary on October 28, Grayscale highlighted the network’s successive shielded transaction systems—Sprout, Sapling, Orchard and Ironwood—as evidence of sustained protocol investment. Ironwood was activated at block height 3,428,143 on July 28, 2026, after developers identified a vulnerability in Orchard’s zero-knowledge proof circuit that could have enabled undetectable counterfeit ZEC. The upgrade introduced a replacement shielded pool, formal verification of supply-integrity properties and quantum-recoverable notes, although those notes do not independently make Zcash quantum-resistant. Zcash holders also approved $8.39 million for 17 of 37 proposals in the third-quarter retroactive funding round, including work related to the Orchard vulnerability, Ironwood and security audits. Grayscale identified transaction capacity, quantum computing and AI-powered cybersecurity threats as areas requiring further research.