Zcash coinholders have backed faster blocks while retaining the network’s existing halving schedule. The results will guide NU7, the privacy network’s next major upgrade, and also settle questions about legacy infrastructure and future handling of coins removed through the Network Sustainability Mechanism.
The vote in numbers
About 2.4 million ZEC participated, exceeding the organizers’ one million ZEC turnout threshold. Roughly 2,397,669 ZEC, or 99.9% of votes cast on the question, favored reducing target block spacing from 75 seconds to 25 seconds. Faster blocks can shorten confirmation intervals, although final user experience also depends on wallet support, network conditions and implementation details.
On issuance, 2,375,932 ZEC, about 98.9% of the relevant vote, supported preserving Zcash’s Bitcoin-style halvings instead of smoothing reductions in new supply over time. The decision keeps periodic cuts to miner rewards. It does not change Zcash’s maximum supply.
Other NU7 decisions
Coinholders also supported beginning to recycle ZEC removed through the Network Sustainability Mechanism in February 2031. A separate result backed disabling v4 transactions when NU7 activates, which would deprecate access to the legacy Sprout pool without deciding how its remaining funds are handled. Users with funds or software tied to legacy components should follow official migration guidance before the upgrade.
About 2,382,601 ZEC supported shipping NU7 as soon as possible while dropping any feature that was not ready by a September 30 deadline. That choice prioritizes the schedule over holding the entire upgrade for an unfinished component.
Why the ballot design matters
Only ZEC held in the newer Ironwood shielded pool was eligible. According to the published vote materials, ballots were encrypted and divided into 16 pieces before counting. Validators could calculate the aggregate result without learning how an individual holder voted or how much ZEC that holder controlled.
The format attempts to combine stake-weighted voting with balance privacy. That does not make the process identical to protocol governance enforced automatically on-chain: developers and operators still need to implement and deploy the selected changes.
What happens before activation
The vote defines direction, not completed code. Teams must finish specifications, implementation, testing and release coordination. Exchanges, wallets, miners and node operators will need final software and activation details. Users should treat dates as provisional until the Zcash project publishes a confirmed activation plan.
Faster blocks change more than waiting time
Reducing target spacing means the network attempts to produce three times as many blocks in the same period. That can improve the cadence of confirmations, but it also gives nodes less time to receive and process each block. Engineers must account for bandwidth, validation performance and wallet behavior before activation. The vote selected the policy direction; testing will determine whether the implementation reaches that target without creating reliability problems for miners, nodes or users.
Sources & further reading
- Adapted from BlockchainReporter: Zcash Coinholders Vote to Keep Halvings and Cut Block Times to 25 Seconds
- Primary vote materials: Zcash community forum