Zcash developers have proposed another reduction in block time, just days after the network's latest major upgrade. ValarDragon and Evan Forbes submitted a draft Zcash Improvement Proposal (ZIP) suggesting the blockchain's target block interval be cut from 25 seconds to 20 seconds. The proposal aims to speed up transaction confirmations, potentially benefiting point-of-sale payments, exchange deposits, and cross-chain swaps.
The developers want this change to be included in the next community poll and considered for the upcoming NU7.1 network upgrade. They emphasized that the reduction would not increase the network's overall daily capacity for private transactions or alter Zcash's existing issuance schedule, despite blocks being produced more frequently.
This proposal follows closely on the heels of Zcash's NU7 upgrade, which was activated on Friday. That upgrade had already cut the network's target block interval from 75 seconds to 25 seconds. The NU7 upgrade also introduced a Network Sustainability Mechanism designed to recycle a portion of transaction fees into future mining rewards while maintaining Zcash's 21 million ZEC supply cap.