Pirate Chain (ARRR), the privacy-focused cryptocurrency with always-shielded zk-SNARK technology, just released Version 6.0.0 Signed Release for Ironwood. This is a required hardfork update for the Treasure Chest full node wallet. Users will need to update Treasure Chest to the version 6.0.0 signed release by 19 September ~19:00 UTC (at block 4141650) in order to continue synchronising the blockchain.
This update is in preparation for Pirate Chain's upgrade for Ironwood, which is set to launch on 3 October, 19:00 UTC.
This marks the next significant step in Pirate Chain's ongoing mission to provide users with the most secure and private financial privacy technology achievable today. The Ironwood upgrade will give rise to a new generation of Ironwood transactions with a trustless shielded pool, machine-checked formal verification, and quantum-recoverability commitments for the future.
What is the Ironwood Upgrade?
The Pirate Chain direct upgrade to Ironwood, announced last month in July, introduces advanced improvements and updates to the network's core infrastructure. The hardfork upgrade includes:
- Ironwood and a planned Treasure Chest and dPoW update in a single combined hardfork. This enables one coordinated network upgrade instead of two separate disruptions.
- The Treasure Chest and dPoW update will activate on block 4141650.
- Ironwood activates via timestap on 3 October 2026 at 19:00 UTC (3:00 PM EDT).
- Replacement of the trusted-setup model for Ironwood transactions.
- Addition of quantum-recoverability commitments (via ZIP 2005).
- Backing by formal verification of Ironwood's circuit design.
"We are incredibly excited to finalize the date for the Ironwood upgrade," said Forge, the Lead Developer at Pirate Chain. "This isn't just an update; it's a fundamental evolution of our protocol. By moving directly to Ironwood, we are delivering on our unequivocal commitment to financial privacy technology."
What Users Need to Know
Users need to update Treasure Chest to version 6.0.0 as a required hardfork update before 19 September ~19:00 UTC (at block 4141650). (Users will need to update Treasure Chest by that time or uninstall and re-install Treasure Chest and restore wallets using their seed phrase.)
Pirate Chain Ironwood launches on 3 October at 19:00 UTC. After Ironwood activates, users can move funds from their existing wallets to a new Ironwood trustless shielded address. Starting from the activation time on 3 October, all new wallets and addresses will be created as Ironwood addresses. Users can create a new address in their wallet software. Moving funds to a new Ironwood address helps users get the benefit of having those funds in trustless shielded pool for the future. Existing Pirate Chain Sapling addresses will continue to be supported and funds can be moved between Sapling addresses and Ironwood addresses.
Follow the Build
Development is already underway. Updates on Ironwood integration will be posted to the roadmap as they're confirmed. Join the conversation and get updates first in Pirate Chain's Discord. Development updates will be posted in the Pirate Network GitHub. Other recent updates to Pirate Chain include improvements in network-layer transaction privacy with Privacy-Peer Relay Restriction and Rotating I2P Relay Identities.
Network-layer privacy for transactions
With recent updates, Pirate Chain has also made improvements in network-layer transaction privacy with Privacy-Peer Relay Restriction and Rotating I2P Relay Identities. This helps protect the privacy of where a transaction came from, providing privacy for the network peer, and by extension which IP address or persistent network identity, first announced it.
The update provided privacy-peer relay restriction and rotating I2P relay-pool identities.
Privacy-peer relay restriction: locally-originated transactions are relayed only to peers reachable over Tor or I2P by default, never to plain clearnet peers, removing raw-IP exposure.
Rotating I2P relay-pool identities: a pool of short-lived, burn-after-use I2P destinations are used exclusively to relay locally-originated transactions, separate from the node's permanent I2P identity, closing an I2P linkability gap.
Keep an eye out for additional information explaining Pirate Chain's network-layer privacy improvements and additional news about Ironwood.
About Pirate Chain
Pirate Chain (ARRR) is a privacy-focused cryptocurrency built on zk-SNARK technology, offering always-shielded transactions with no optional transparency. Launched in 2018, Pirate Chain is moving to Ironwood to become one of the only privacy coins running a fully trustless, formally verified shielded pool. For more information, visit piratechain.com.
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☑️ AmyV ☑️ QuirkyRobots