Zcash Network Appears Offline Due to Faulty Block Explorer Applications

The decentralized Zcash network recently faced confusion and speculation about its operational status after reports surfaced that it had stopped producing new blocks for several hours.

However, an investigation by Helius CEO Mert Mumtaz revealed that the issue was not with the blockchain itself but rather with block explorers failing to update correctly due to a faulty node. This led to users seeing no new blocks being reported, even though the chain continued operating normally in the background.

The apparent disruption followed a coordinated network upgrade within the Zcash ecosystem aimed at addressing a vulnerability affecting Orchard, the latest shielded pool. The upgrade was carried out through two stages - a soft fork and a hard fork - and involved updates to the zero-knowledge proof circuit.