Zcash has moved its next network upgrade into live testing, activating NU7 on the testnet ahead of a planned mainnet rollout in November. The upgrade is designed to shorten block times, change transaction support and introduce a mechanism that directs some fees toward future block rewards.
Testnet activation begins live assessment
The activation took place at block 4,465,026, which was mined on Oct. 4 at 18:21:45 UTC, according to the Zcash testnet block explorer ZecBlock. Zcash later confirmed in a post on X that NU7 was live on the testnet.
The testnet stage gives developers and network operators several weeks to evaluate the release under operating conditions that more closely resemble those of the live network. According to Cointelegraph, the Zcash Foundation had urged testnet operators to run the release candidate in real conditions as part of the assessment.
Zcash developers plan to use the results of this testing before committing to a mainnet launch. They are scheduled to make a final decision and choose an activation height on Oct. 20. The current target for mainnet activation is Nov. 5.
What NU7 changes
A central part of NU7 is a proposed reduction in Zcash’s target block interval from 75 seconds to 25 seconds. Blocks are the units in which transactions are grouped and added to a blockchain, so a shorter target interval changes how frequently new blocks are expected to be produced.
The upgrade would also disable version 4 transactions. This change has a direct consequence for funds held in Zcash’s legacy Sprout shielded pool: ZEC stored there would become unspendable unless users move it before NU7 is fully activated.
NU7 also includes a Network Sustainability Mechanism. Under the change, a portion of transaction fees would be redirected into future block rewards. The testnet period is intended to help developers examine these and other protocol changes before any decision is implemented on mainnet.
Moneyiar market picture
Moneyiar data at 09:38 on Oct. 5, 2026, showed Zcash (ZEC) trading at $1,326.7645267633. The token was up 0.41% over 24 hours but down 14.07% over seven days.
Other assets tracked by Moneyiar at around the same time were also mixed. Velo (VELO) stood at $0.0056965561, up 4.27% in 24 hours and 17.15% over seven days. Propy (PRO) was priced at $0.3655588756, with gains of 0.64% and 4.45% over those periods, respectively. Ore (ORE) traded at $125.3761829396, down 5% over 24 hours but up 50.63% across seven days.
The NU7 activation remains a testnet event rather than a completed mainnet upgrade. Its final timing and activation height will depend on the developers’ scheduled review of testnet performance.
