Zcash Developers Set Sights on November NU7 Mainnet Upgrade
Zcash developers are gearing up for the NU7 mainnet upgrade, aiming to activate it on November 5th. The upgrade will reduce Zcash's target block spacing from 75 seconds to a mere 25 seconds, while also disabling version 4 transactions and integrating the Network Sustainability Mechanism (NSM).
The chosen NSM configuration is designed to preserve Zcash's halving schedule, with previously removed supply reintroduced in February 2031. According to Sean Bowe, the upgrade should not significantly affect wallets, but may require adjustments from full nodes, indexers, and block explorers.
A recent vote among ZEC holders saw overwhelming support for the shorter block interval and preservation of the halving schedule. A staggering 98.9% supported keeping halvings, while 99.9% of the Zcash (ZEC)-weighted vote backed the faster-block proposal.
The NU7 upgrade is scheduled to activate on the testnet on October 6th, with a final decision on the mainnet upgrade and its activation height set for October 20th. This comes amid a recent surge in ZEC's price, which rose about 20% over 24 hours as privacy coins outperformed the wider market.