Zcash Puts Dev Fund First, Postpones NU7 If Needed

Zcash (ZEC) has reached a pivotal decision: the community chose to extend its Development Fund using a model that splits funding power between coinholders and the broader Zcash ecosystem. 

After months of open surveys and coinholder voting, a clear favorite emerged: the Community and Coinholder Funding Model (C&C). All told, four separate polls aligned on the same conclusion: keep the Dev Fund going, let coinholders have their say, and give the community a meaningful role. 

With the current Dev Fund set to expire in November 2025, the push is on to build a coinholder grant polling mechanism and align this plan with a potential network upgrade. That might delay NU7, but the community insists it’s worth it to ensure sustainable funding.

The process was anything but top-down. ECC’s Zcash Ad Hoc Caucus (ZAC), ZF’s Community Advisory Panel (ZCAP), and the ZecHub DAO each ran independent polls, supplemented by a first-of-its-kind coinholder voting system. 

In every case, the C&C approach stood out, reaffirming that both coinholders and community members should guide resource allocation.

In the coming months, Zcash will refine this new model. Key steps include formalizing a coinholder grant polling tool - letting ZEC holders directly influence where funds go - and scheduling a network upgrade before November 2025. 

Discussions will remain public on the Zcash Community Forum, where feedback on the final approach is encouraged.

This new Dev Fund model aims to preserve Zcash’s zero-knowledge privacy while giving the entire ecosystem a seat at the table. By balancing broad community input with coinholder stake, Zcash expects a stronger, more sustainable approach to protocol growth.

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