Zcash is about to freeze $16 million in its oldest privacy pool

Zcash is set to freeze roughly $16 million in ZEC still held in Sprout, its original 2016 privacy pool, with about 12,200 ZEC remaining as the protocol moves toward retiring the shielded pool. Approximately 10,000 coins exited Sprout over the past week, though only around 40 moved out on Wednesday, suggesting the migration is nearly complete but not finished. The freeze matters because any ZEC left in Sprout after the cutoff risks becoming inaccessible, putting pressure on remaining holders to migrate to newer shielded pools. Watch whether the final stragglers move before the deadline and how the retirement affects Zcash's shielded supply and overall privacy-pool usage.