Zcash Sets NU7 Activation Block, Tripling Transaction Speed Around Nov. 5

Zcash developers have agreed to switch on the NU7 upgrade at block 3,543,405, expected around Nov. 5. Developer Sean Bowe filed the proposal on Tuesday after the height was settled at a meeting of Zcash Improvement Proposal editors, the group that signs off on changes to the network’s rules. Node software Zakura’s public upgrade dashboard already lists the block as the planned mainnet activation point. The upgrade has been running on Zcash’s test network since early October.

Faster Blocks Mean Quicker Confirmations

NU7 cuts the time between blocks from 75 seconds to 25 seconds, which speeds payments by a factor of three. An exchange that waits for three confirmations before crediting a ZEC deposit could see the delay shrink from nearly four minutes to about a minute and a quarter.

Fee Changes and the End of Sprout

The upgrade also pulls 60% of the fees collected in each block out of circulation. Those coins will be paid back to miners starting around February 2031, while the existing schedule for halving mining rewards stays in place. Sprout, Zcash’s original privacy system, will shut down entirely. Coins still held there when NU7 activates become unspendable, so holders have until early November to move them.

Zcash rallies 12% onthe news.

What Still Needs to Happen Before Launch

Bowe’s proposal has two approvals but had not yet been merged into the deployment specification as of Wednesday morning, and the spec still listed the mainnet activation height as undecided. Node software must also include the chosen height before the upgrade can take effect.