Zcash Holders Vote Overwhelmingly for Faster Block Times, Keep Halvings

Zcash (ZEC) holders have voted overwhelmingly in favor of reducing the network's block time from 75 seconds to 25 seconds, while preserving the existing bitcoin-style halving schedule. The results, published Monday, show 99.9% support for faster blocks and 98.9% support for keeping halvings, with nearly 2.4 million ZEC participating out of roughly 3.6 million eligible Source: CoinDesk. The vote was weighted by ZEC holdings, with one ZEC representing one vote Source: CoinDesk.

What Was Decided

The changes are proposed for NU7, Zcash's next major network upgrade, whose activation date remains undetermined Source: Cointelegraph. The shorter block interval would reduce the expected wait for a transaction's first confirmation, while the amount of new ZEC issued per block would fall to keep daily issuance unchanged Source: Cointelegraph. Token holders also favored excluding features not implemented by Sept. 30 Source: Cointelegraph.

Disagreements and Nuances

While the coinholder vote was decisive, other community groups showed more division. The Zcash Community Advisory Panel results revealed a closer split, with 57 members favoring a gradual issuance curve that would replace halvings and 54 favoring keeping them Source: Cointelegraph. Additionally, about 97% of token holders voted to delay the Network Sustainability Mechanism (NSM) reissuance until February 2031, with 2.3 million ZEC tokens voting to delay, while only about 70,239 tokens voted to start it as soon as possible Source: Cointelegraph. The NSM was proposed to address long-term security budget concerns as block rewards decline Source: Cointelegraph.

Market Reaction

ZEC rose 3.8% in the 24 hours following the vote, extending its 132% rally over the past month Source: Cointelegraph.