Zcash Poll Backs Halvings, Delays Recycled ZEC to 2031

Zcash coinholders in a ZEC-weighted advisory poll backed keeping the protocol’s scheduled halvings and delaying the return of ZEC collected by the Network Sustainability Mechanism until February 2031. The poll was part of planning for the NU7 network upgrade. The advisory vote does not change protocol code or set an activation date.

Between 2,399,000 and 2,404,000 ZEC participated on each of the five questions. Each question exceeded the poll’s 1 million ZEC threshold for representativeness. Participation was ZEC-weighted and the poll’s outcomes are nonbinding.

On monetary policy, 2,375,932.375 ZEC supported preserving periodic halvings while 22,384.875 ZEC favored replacing them with a smoother issuance curve. On timing for returning funds removed from circulation, 2,319,643.75 ZEC supported beginning recycling in February 2031, 70,239.625 ZEC preferred starting as soon as possible and 6,283 ZEC selected February 2027. The poll records preferences but does not set deployment dates.

Technical questions also produced clear majorities. About 2.33 million ZEC supported disabling legacy Sprout v4 transactions at NU7 activation. Nearly 2.4 million ZEC backed reducing target block spacing from 75 seconds to 25 seconds and implementing per-pool action limits. Roughly 2.38 million ZEC preferred shipping NU7 without any feature that would miss a Sept. 30 implementation deadline.

A separate advisory group, the Zcash Community Advisory Panel, recorded a 68% response rate with 135 of 198 eligible members voting. A community-authored recap described ZCAP as narrowly favoring smoother issuance. Other community panels favored starting recycled issuance as soon as possible. Those inputs remain advisory and distinct from the ZEC-weighted poll.

A public post in the results discussion noted that Shielded Labs, Project Tachyon, ZODL, the Zcash Foundation and Valar Group had aligned on February 2031 as the most conservative interpretation of the outcome and added that another poll could revisit timing if conditions change. As of Sept. 17, Zcash’s NU7 page listed no activation height. Specification work on preserving halvings remained open and deployment values had not been assigned.

The next steps are technical: specification finalization, code development, review, testing and a formal activation decision. Implementers and node operators will set deployment parameters and carry out the upgrade process before any change reaches mainnet.