THORChain Activates Zcash Pool, With Trading Still Awaiting Next Step

Pool goes live after node churn

In its Oct. 2 announcement, THORChain said the churn process had completed and every node was now watching the Zcash chain. That change put a live liquidity venue for ZEC on the network before swaps were enabled for users.

The protocol described the pool as permissionless but did not provide a pool-depth figure or a firm timetable for when trading would begin. THORChain’s message emphasized that the pool launch and the start of user trading were separate stages.

Explorer status and liquidity warning

THORChain’s network explorer appeared to reflect the rollout, with an active-node page listing ZEC as “OK” under chain information alongside networks such as Bitcoin and Ethereum tracked by the displayed node.

At the same time, the project highlighted the limited depth of the new market. THORChain said liquidity was shallow for now and would grow over time, making caution important in the early days before the pool matures.

Technical work behind Zcash support

Zcash integration had been in development for months. In a March 4 protocol upgrade, THORChain said it had added chain-specific UTXO handling and RPC logic for ZEC. A separate change also placed ZEC in the protocol’s enshrined oracle, allowing native price tracking inside THORChain’s logic.

Additional THORNode work classified ZEC as a UTXO-based chain and added settings tied to that design, including address validation, gas units, dust thresholds, block timing, coinbase parameters and inbound transaction requirements.

Development continued into September. One merged change addressed signing inconsistencies that could occur when nodes calculated ZEC transaction expiry from different local chain tips, which could lead to different signing digests. The fix tied expiry to an agreed ZEC height at a fixed THORChain height, preserved that value during retries and restarts, introduced periodic updates through network-fee reports, and changed how expired signing attempts were handled.

Launch follows earlier mainnet signal and recent scrutiny

On Sept. 17, THORChain’s official blog said Zcash was next in line for mainnet as chain launches resumed after a period focused on network stability. At that stage, timing remained conditional. The Oct. 2 pool activation followed after nodes began monitoring Zcash.

The launch also comes during renewed attention on THORChain over stolen assets moving through cross-chain swaps. Bitget said unauthorized transfers began on Sept. 24 and later put the value sent to attacker-controlled addresses at about $387.5 million after adding Zcash and Tron activity to its total. Bitget said Mandiant and SlowMist were assisting its security and technical teams, and listed affected assets including XRP, ETH, USDT, ZEC, USDC, XAUt, BNB, AVAX and TRX.

THORChain rejected a request for selective restrictions. In an Oct. 1 blog post, the protocol said its emergency halt tools are designed to protect network operations and cannot freeze an individual address or swap. It added that node operators can pause a chain or the full protocol when solvency is at risk, and said major network changes require node-operator adoption with a two-thirds consensus threshold.

What comes next

The next confirmed milestone is the activation of trading for ZEC on THORChain. As of the Oct. 2 announcement, the protocol had not given a specific start time for swaps or disclosed a concrete pool-depth number.

For now, the confirmed state is that the Zcash liquidity pool is live, all nodes are said to be monitoring the chain, and trading remains pending while the protocol warns that opening-stage liquidity is limited.