The Zcash community is preparing to vote on a proposal that would restructure how the network funds development and distributes newly minted tokens. The plan centers on removing approximately 55% of the Zcash Community Grants (ZCG) treasury, or 50,000 ZEC, from circulation within 30 days of activation.
Zcash currently allocates 8% of newly issued ZEC to ZCG, which distributes funds to developers, wallet providers, and ecosystem projects. Rising ZEC prices have increased the treasury's value, prompting concerns that the committee was accumulating more funds than necessary while continuing to receive new token allocations.
Proposal Details
Under the revised proposal, the 50,000 ZEC removed from ZCG would be credited to the Network Sustainability Mechanism, introduced through the NU7 upgrade. This mechanism would gradually return ZEC to the network through future mining rewards.
The proposal would also end ZCG's existing 8% allocation of newly created ZEC. Instead, this share would accumulate in a new Future Dev and Legal Defense Fund until the next halving occurs. The fund would remain inaccessible until a separate proposal establishes withdrawal rules.
ZCG would retain its remaining treasury to continue funding development, while the separate 12% Coinholder-Controlled Fund would remain unchanged.
Community Vote and Implementation
Community voting is scheduled from November 16 to November 30. Coinholders and community panels will assess the proposal's support. If it achieves rough consensus, developers and miners can work toward implementing it through a future network upgrade called NU7.1, though no confirmed activation date has been set.
This revised plan follows ZCG's November 3 decision to abandon an earlier proposal that faced criticism for seeking to redirect approximately 98,000 ZEC toward mining rewards.
Developer Activity and Market Conditions
Zcash's monthly active developer count has nearly doubled over the past two years. According to Glassnode data, approximately 70% of active developers have more than one year of experience in crypto development, compared with 58% across the wider industry.
ZEC has faced bearish pressure, trading at $986.40 at the time of reporting, down 1.4% over the preceding 24 hours.
