Zcash Sets November 5 Target For NU7 Upgrade And 25-Second Blocks

Trusted Editorial content, reviewed by leading industry experts and seasoned editors. Ad Disclosure TL;DR Zcash developers are targeting November 5 for NU7 mainnet activation. The upgrade would cut target block spacing from 75 seconds to 25 seconds. October 20 remains the final decision point before mainnet activation. Zcash has put a timeline around one of its biggest protocol upgrades in years. Developers are targeting November 5 for NU7 mainnet activation, with the upgrade set to reduce Zcash’s target block interval from 75 seconds to 25 seconds. Before that happens, the network has two important checkpoints. Testnet activation is targeted for October 6, while a final mainnet decision is expected on October 20. Faster Blocks Change More Than Speed Cutting block spacing by two-thirds sounds simple. It is not. A blockchain has to make sure nodes can propagate and validate blocks quickly enough to keep the network synchronized. Shorter block intervals can improve user experience because transactions appear on-chain more quickly. They can also increase pressure on networking, storage and validation. That is why the Zcash developers are staging the rollout. Testnet comes first. Then ...