Zcash developers have proposed cutting the network’s target block interval from 25 seconds to 20 seconds, aiming to shorten the expected wait for an initial transaction confirmation. The change was a draft proposal—not an activated upgrade—in Cointelegraph’s report published on November 9, 2026, at 13:36:08 UTC+8.
What the proposal would change
Developers ValarDragon and Evan Forbes submitted a draft Zcash Improvement Proposal (ZIP) to the Zcash community forum on Sunday. They wanted it included in the next community poll and considered for the upcoming NU7.1 network upgrade.
According to the proposal, shorter confirmation waits would improve the experience for point-of-sale payments, exchange deposits and cross-chain swaps. However, the developers said the change would not increase the network’s overall daily capacity for private transactions. It would also preserve Zcash’s existing issuance schedule despite producing blocks more frequently.
What NU7 had already changed
The proposal followed the mainnet activation of NU7 on Friday, which reduced Zcash’s target block interval from 75 seconds to 25 seconds.
NU7 also introduced a Network Sustainability Mechanism, designed to recycle a portion of transaction fees into future mining rewards while preserving the 21 million ZEC supply cap.
The distinction is important: NU7’s changes were already live at the time of the report; the further reduction to 20 seconds remained under proposal for community consideration.