Zcash blocks are now arriving three times as often — but only on a network where the coins carry no value, at least for the time being.
On Zcash’s public test network, the NU7 upgrade went live at block 4,465,026. The upgrade lowers the target interval between transaction batches from 75 seconds to 25, and it kicks off a public trial ahead of a mainnet rollout planned for November.
Zakura, software that tracks Zcash and validates its transactions, now shows the new rules as active on public testnet. Its earlier standalone testing network has been shut down.
What faster blocks mean in practice
A block holds a batch of payments. When blocks come more often, a merchant waiting to accept a payment or an exchange waiting to credit a deposit could have a shorter wait.
Take a service that requires three confirmations. If it keeps that requirement unchanged, its targeted wait would drop from 225 seconds to about 75. That condition is important, since exchanges set their own confirmation thresholds.
The 25-second number is also only a target. Real block times fluctuate, so some blocks will land sooner than that and others later.
Issuance stays on schedule
More frequent blocks would not mean three times as many new coins. The scheduled reward for each block drops to one-third, so the issuance schedule stays the same.
NU7 also changes how transaction fees are split. Miners get 40%. The other 60% comes out of circulation and goes into a reserve meant to fund future mining rewards.
The reserve deals with a long-term issue. Those rewards pay miners to keep verifying transactions while the amount of newly issued ZEC shrinks, so the fee split is really about keeping miners paid years down the road.
A deadline for Sprout holders
The upgrade turns off transactions used by Sprout, Zcash's oldest private-payment system. Anyone who still holds funds there would need to move them before mainnet activation to keep the ability to spend them through the existing system.
If an old Sprout balance has been sitting untouched, the time left to deal with it is running short.
Both node clients are ready
Zakura put out its implementation on Oct. 1. A day later, the Zcash Foundation released a test version of Zebra, which means both major node programs now support the trial.
Operators need compatible software to follow the upgraded test network. Since testnet coins have no monetary value, developers and infrastructure operators can check the changes before they touch real ZEC.
The November date isn’t final
Developers plan to go over the test results and decide on mainnet activation on Oct. 20. The target is still Nov. 5.
However, no mainnet activation block has been set yet. Until that number is chosen, 25-second Zcash blocks exist only on a network where nothing is worth spending.