Zcash developers propose shortening the block interval from
Zcash developers ValarDragon and Evan Forbes submitted a draft improvement proposal suggesting shortening the target block interval from 25 seconds to 20 seconds, with plans to include it in the next round of community voting and discussions for the NU7.1 upgrade. The proposal claims it can shorten the wait for initial transaction confirmations, but it will not increase the total daily capacity for private transactions, nor will it change the issuance schedule.
Event Timeline
- [11-09 05:46] Zcash developers propose shortening the block interval to 20 seconds (Odaily 星球日报)
- [11-09 06:03] Zcash developers propose shortening the block time to 20 seconds (PANews)
Background and Impact
On November 9, 2026, Odaily 星球日报 (05:46) and PANews (06:03) reported successively that Zcash developers ValarDragon and Evan Forbes submitted a draft Zcash improvement proposal on Sunday, suggesting shortening the target block interval from 25 seconds to 20 seconds, with plans to include it in the next round of community voting and discussions on the upcoming NU7.1 network upgrade. Both sources mentioned that the news originated from a Cointelegraph report. This draft appeared shortly after the activation of the NU7 upgrade: Odaily said NU7 went live on the mainnet on Friday, while PANews gave the date as November 6 and said the block time was thereby reduced from 75 seconds to 25 seconds.
In terms of background, in addition to shortening the block interval, NU7 also introduced a network sustainability mechanism that returns part of transaction fees to future mining rewards, while maintaining the 21 million ZEC supply cap. Regarding this proposal, the developers explicitly stated that shortening the block interval will not increase the network's total daily capacity for private transactions, nor will it change Zcash's existing issuance schedule. In other words, the change targets confirmation speed, not the throughput ceiling or the supply pace.
In terms of impact, the proposal claims that shortening the interval can reduce the wait for initial transaction confirmations and improve the experience of offline payments, exchange deposits and cross-chain swaps; PANews described the offline payment scenario as POS payments. The two sources differ slightly in their wording of the beneficiary scenarios and the NU7 launch date, but neither provided an implementation timetable. The draft is still at the proposal stage and needs to go through community voting and NU7.1 discussions, so whether it will be implemented remains undecided; the relevant changes will only be reflected in areas such as deposit confirmations after actual activation. Fee-related information that some users follow, such as OKX account opening discounts, OKX registration offers and OKX invitation codes, as well as Huobi account opening discounts and Huobi registration offers, is not directly related to this proposal, and specifics should be based on the official pages of each platform.
Frequently Asked Questions
### What can ordinary users perceive from shortening the block interval from 25 seconds to 20 seconds?
According to the proposal, the wait for initial transaction confirmations will be shortened, and the experience of offline payments, exchange deposits and cross-chain swaps is expected to improve. However, the proposal also states that it will not increase the network's total daily capacity for private transactions and will not change the issuance schedule, and the draft has not yet been implemented.
### Will this change affect the ZEC supply?
Both sources state that the 21 million ZEC supply cap and the existing issuance schedule remain unchanged. The network sustainability mechanism introduced by NU7 only returns part of transaction fees to future mining rewards and does not change the total supply framework.
### What milestones should be watched going forward?
The draft has been submitted to the community forum, is planned to be included in the next round of community voting, and is being considered for implementation in the upcoming NU7.1 network upgrade. Neither source provided specific dates for the vote or the upgrade.