Zcash’s planned NU7 upgrade will permanently freeze about 12,224 ZEC in Sprout, the network’s original privacy pool, and reduce the target block time from 75 seconds to 25 seconds, according to Decrypt’s Morning Minute newsletter published on November 6, 2026.
How the Sprout freeze works
Sprout dates to 2016. The newsletter reports that NU7 will invalidate the only transaction format capable of moving coins out of that pool. As a result, the approximately 12,224 ZEC remaining there—valued at roughly $15.6 million in the report—will become permanently immovable.
The reported change concerns funds in Sprout, rather than a network-wide freeze on ZEC transfers.
A shorter block-time target
NU7 will also cut the target interval between blocks from 75 seconds to 25 seconds, one-third of the previous target. This is a protocol timing change; the newsletter does not provide further details on its implications for transaction processing.
The source describes both changes as forthcoming. It does not give an activation date or confirm that NU7 has been deployed.
Original source: Decrypt’s Morning Minute, by Tyler Warner, published November 6, 2026, at 21:29:20 UTC+08:00.