Zcash activates NU7 as ZEC falls nearly 6%

The activation took place at approximately 02:34 UTC. Faster block production could shorten payment confirmation times, though the wait still depends on network conditions and how many confirmations a wallet, merchant or exchange requires. Orchard transaction capacity is estimated to rise from about 2.9 to 6.6 transactions per second. In the first hours after activation, observed block intervals averaged around 39 seconds as mining difficulty adjusted.

NU7 also changes fee distribution: miners receive 40% of transaction fees, while 60% is reserved through the Network Sustainability Mechanism for future mining rewards, scheduled to begin around February 2031. The fees are not permanently burned, and Zcash retains its 21 million ZEC maximum supply. The daily issuance schedule is unchanged; the reward per block falls to account for more frequent blocks.

The upgrade limits shielded transaction activity to reduce the work required of wallets scanning the blockchain. Developers estimate that the worst-case daily download requirement will fall from 271 megabytes to 169 megabytes. NU7 also disables version 4 transactions, leaving approximately 12,224 ZEC in the original Sprout privacy pool unspendable under current consensus rules. That amount was valued at about $15.3 million at the reported market price. Co-founder Sean Bowe has discussed a possible future recovery mechanism, but no change has been approved.

ZEC’s 24-hour trading range was $1,217.35 to $1,330.22, with volume at $1.33 billion. The seven-day change was a 0.78% decline, and the token was down about 4.94% over the month. Technical indicators put nearby support at $1,235.20 and further support at $1,126.81, with resistance at $1,343.58. Crypto analyst More Crypto Online said ZEC was “still following an ascending price channel.” A sustained move above resistance could bring a recovery into focus; a fall below the nearer support could expose the lower level.