Zcash Developers Pick NU7 Block Ahead of Sprout Shutdown

Zcash (ZEC) developers have agreed on a proposed activation block for NU7, giving holders a clearer timetable to move funds out of Sprout before the network’s original privacy system is disabled.

Developers selected block 3,543,405 for the mainnet upgrade. The network is expected to reach that block around Nov. 5, though activation depends on reaching the specified height.

NU7 would disable Sprout. Funds left in the system when the upgrade activates would become unspendable, so holders would need to move them before the activation block. Sprout is Zcash’s original privacy system.

The upgrade would also shorten the target interval between blocks to 25 seconds from 75 seconds, allowing transaction confirmations to arrive more frequently. It would temporarily remove 60% of fees from each block from circulation, with payments to miners expected to begin around February 2031. The existing mining reward halving schedule would remain in place.

As of 4 a.m. ET (08:00 UTC) Oct. 21, the proposed height had not been merged into the deployment specification. Adding it to the specification and node software is the next step toward the targeted Nov. 5 activation.