Zcash developers have put forward a plan to make the privacy-focused network faster again, only days after the protocol's latest major upgrade went live. On Sunday, developers ValarDragon and Evan Forbes posted a draft Zcash Improvement Proposal (ZIP) on the Zcash community forum. The draft would cut the network's target block interval from 25 seconds to 20 seconds.

The pair are asking for the change to be added to the next community poll and to be considered for the upcoming NU7.1 network upgrade. It would be the second block time reduction in under a week if adopted. The proposal lands as ZEC changes hands near $1,240.

🚨ZCASH DEVS PUSH FOR 20-SECOND BLOCKS RIGHT AFTER NU7! Just days after NU7 went live and cut zcash:native block times from 75 seconds to 25 seconds, developers ValarDragon and Evan Forbes filed a draft ZIP proposing another cut to 20 seconds in a potential NU7.1 upgrade. The… pic.twitter.com/iG6vInkDAq

— Crypto Banter (@crypto_banter) November 9, 2026

NU7 Set the Stage

NU7 went live on the Zcash mainnet on Friday, shortening the target block interval from 75 seconds to 25 seconds. The upgrade also introduced a Network Sustainability Mechanism, which recycles part of transaction fees into future mining rewards. Zcash's 21 million ZEC supply cap remains in place under these changes. The quick follow-up underscores the developers' focus on further reducing confirmation times across the network. If adopted, the second cut would shrink the target interval to roughly a quarter of the 75 seconds in place before Friday.

What the Proposal Would Change

According to the developers, faster blocks would shorten the wait for a first confirmation. They identify point-of-sale payments, exchange deposits, and cross-chain swaps as the use cases where the shorter interval would deliver the most noticeable improvement.

The draft also spells out what would remain unchanged. It would not raise the network's total daily capacity for private transactions, and the current issuance schedule would stay in effect even with blocks arriving more frequently.

Price Reaction and Fund Flows

The price has not followed the development news. ZEC traded at $1,240 on Monday after posting two consecutive days of losses, and the coin was capped below $1,340 on Friday, the day NU7 launched on mainnet.

FXStreet analyst Vishal Dixit wrote that the upgrade failed to draw buyers, and said the price remains stuck in a consolidation range between $1,112 and $1,340. The range has held through both the NU7 launch and the new proposal.

Fund flows tell a mixed story. ZEC ETFs recorded $13 million in outflows last week, after taking in $17 million the week before. Dixit noted that steady withdrawals from ZEC ETFs could add to downside risk, and pointed to institutional demand as a weight on the upgrade's effect.

Derivatives data also show shifts in positioning. Futures open interest fell 2% over 24 hours to $2.68 billion, according to CoinGlass, suggesting that some contracts were closed. The funding rate rose to 0.0272% — positive territory in which long-position holders pay shorts — a move Dixit read as traders rebuilding long positions in hopes of a rebound.

Technical Levels

ZEC is testing its 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) at $1,219, while the 200-day EMA sits much lower at $876. Dixit said this points to a supportive near-term structure, with the shorter-term average acting as the first line of support during the current pullback.

The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) and its signal line are converging near the zero line, while the Relative Strength Index (RSI) sits just below 50. Taken together, the readings show neutral momentum.

For a bullish trend to resume, Dixit said ZEC must reclaim the $1,340 barrier set by the October high, which could open a path toward the September 26 high of $1,698. On the downside, the first support sits at the 50-day EMA near $1,219, with a deeper floor at the October 8 low of $1,112.

What Comes Next

The block time proposal now moves to community discussion on the Zcash forum. The developers want the change included in the next community poll, with NU7.1 as the target upgrade. Any decision will rest with the community process that follows.