Zcash Surges Past $1,400 After Community Votes on NU7 Upgrade

Zcash has surged to over $1,400 after its community voted on the shape of its next network upgrade. The vote, which had a turnout of 66%, saw coinholders choose to keep Bitcoin-style halvings rather than smooth issuance.

The upgrade, dubbed NU7, also includes faster blocks, immediate deprecation of the legacy Sprout pool, and a cut in scope to whatever is ready by September 30. Coinholders voted 98.9% in favor of keeping halvings, which will reduce the rate at which new ZEC is released into circulation.

Another question on the vote concerned when the network sustainability mechanism should start recycling fees back to miners. Coinholders chose February 2031 by 96.6%, while advisory panels favored 'as soon as possible'. However, several prominent groups have since stated their support for the chosen date.

The price of Zcash has risen significantly in recent months, with a gain of over 2,500% over the past year. This is partly attributed to the launch of Grayscale's ETF last month, which gave institutions a route to Zcash that didn't exist before.