Zcash Developers Target November 5 Upgrade With 25-Second Blocks
Zcash developers are gearing up to implement major upgrades on November 5, pending the success of a testnet activation scheduled for October 6. The NU7 mainnet upgrade will bring significant changes to Zcash's underlying architecture, with block times dropping from 75 seconds to just 25 seconds.
As part of the upgrade, version 4 transactions will be disabled, and the Network Sustainability Mechanism (NSM) will be reintroduced in February 2031. The NSM is designed to preserve Zcash's halving schedule during the next inflationary period.
According to a statement from Sean Bowe, there is a shared understanding among key stakeholders, including the Zcash Foundation and Project Tachyon, about the scope and timeline of deliverables. Engineers will deploy NU7 to a testnet for a two-week observation period before setting a new mainnet activation height.
The upgrade has received widespread support from Zcash coinholders, with 98.9% backing the existing halving mechanism and 99.9% supporting faster blocks. The vote also saw near-universal approval for preserving the halving schedule.