Zcash targets November 5 date for NU7 upgrade

CoinDesk reports that the Zcash team is aiming for a Nov. 5 rollout of the NU7 upgrade. The change would shorten the interval between blocks from 75 seconds to 25 seconds, accelerating private payments.

The proposal includes a network sustainability mechanism. Per ZIP-235, about 60% of transaction fees will be taken out of circulation for a period. These funds are set to re-enter as mining rewards starting in February 2031.

To maintain issuance levels, the update reduces the block reward by a factor of three. It also lengthens the halving cycle from 1.68 million blocks to 5.04 million blocks. Community voting confirmed the plan, with 98.9% in favor of the halving schedule and 96.6% supporting the fee return date. Approximately 2.4 million ZEC were cast in the vote, representing 66% of the qualified supply.

Code completion is expected by Sept. 30, with testnet activation scheduled for Oct. 6. The team will determine the final mainnet details and select the activation height on Oct. 20.