Zcash holders overwhelmingly back faster transactions and bitcoin‑style halvings

About two‑thirds of eligible ZEC tokens took part in a privacy‑preserving governance vote on Zcash’s upcoming NU7 network upgrade. The results show near‑unanimous support for faster block times and for keeping the current halving schedule.

Turnout and voting weight

Roughly 2.4 million ZEC, out of an estimated 3.6 million eligible at the snapshot, cast votes. Each ZEC represented one vote, so the outcome reflects the economic stake of participants rather than the number of individual voters. The vote met the 1 million ZEC minimum turnout threshold required for a representative result.

Key decisions

• Block time reduction: 99.9 % of voting ZEC favored shortening block intervals from 75 seconds to 25 seconds, which would speed up transaction confirmations.
• Halving schedule: 98.9 % voted to retain Zcash’s Bitcoin‑style halving mechanism, keeping the existing schedule for cutting miner rewards.
• Upgrade timing: 99.3 % supported launching NU7 as soon as possible, with a deadline of September 30 for readiness.
• Network Sustainability Mechanism: 96.6 % chose to postpone the re‑issuance of fees collected through the mechanism until February 2031.
• Obsolete features: Voters approved disabling transactions tied to the legacy Sprout privacy system.

Privacy‑focused voting process

Only ZEC held in the Ironwood shielded pool could vote, preserving anonymity of balances and voting choices. Ballots were encrypted, split into 16 pieces, and aggregated by validators without revealing individual holdings or preferences.

Implications for the network

The faster block proposal aligns with ongoing efforts to improve private transaction throughput, including recent software optimizations that reduced proof‑generation times on mobile devices. Maintaining the halving schedule and delaying fee re‑issuance keep the maximum supply unchanged while allowing recycled fees to accumulate before returning to miners.

While the vote defines the roadmap for NU7, the selected features still require implementation, testing, and integration before the upgrade becomes active.