Zcash Is Running—Devs Want to Make It Faster

Zcash developers have set a target of Nov. 5 to enable NU7, the network's next major upgrade. The headline change will shrink block time from 75 seconds to 25 seconds, producing about three times more blocks per unit of time and speeding confirmation for shielded, zero-knowledge transactions. To prevent a corresponding jump in daily coin issuance, the upgrade includes ZIP 218, which lowers the reward paid to miners per block by roughly the same factor. According to the specification, this adjustment preserves the existing rate of new ZEC created per unit of wall-clock time, maintaining the coin's halving-based issuance model. A broad coalition of Zcash builders — including the Zcash Foundation, Project Tachyon, Valar Group, ZODL, and Shielded Labs — agreed on NU7's scope and timeline, with underlying specifications due by Sept. 30. Developer Sean Bowe said NU7 will reach testnet on Oct. 6 and that the team will set the exact mainnet activation block height on Oct. 20 after observing testnet behavior. Wallets are not expected to require major changes, and the upgrade does not introduce new transaction types. The proposal also addresses long-term miner revenue after halvings exhaust block rewards. Coinholders overwhelmingly voted (98.9% of votes cast, representing 2.4 million ZEC and 66% of the eligible pool) to keep Zcash's Bitcoin-style halving schedule. NU7 adds a Network Sustainability Mechanism that will start reserving roughly 60% of transaction fees beginning in 2026; those banked fees are planned to be released as supplemental mining rewards starting in February 2031 to help fund network security without increasing supply. NU7 follows a turbulent period for Zcash: the Ironwood upgrade in July fixed a four-year-old vulnerability that could have allowed counterfeit minting, an event that briefly pushed the token down 38%. ZEC has since recovered strongly, rising over 2,500% in the past year amid the Ironwood fix and a Grayscale spot ETF listing that provided additional investor exposure.