Zcash Hashrate Hits Record as NU7 Activates at Block 3,543,405
Key Facts
Zcash’s network hashrate hit a record as the NU7 upgrade activated on mainnet, alongside a change in the pace of block production and the distribution of transaction fees. ZecStats tracker reported that the upgrade took effect at block 3,543,405, mined on November 6, 2026, at 02:34 UTC. This implemented the technical change that cut the target block time to 25 seconds. But the coincidence of the upgrade and the record does not prove that the shorter block time attracted miners or lifted the hashrate. The published facts here do not provide a numerical value for the record hashrate itself.
In the first hours after activation, the actual average interval between blocks did not immediately reach the new target. CoinDesk reported that by 04:59 UTC, the network had produced 225 additional blocks, averaging about 39 seconds between blocks, citing ZecStats. The report said mining difficulty was still adjusting to the new target pace. The average for those blocks therefore reflects an early transition phase, while 25 seconds remains the target time under NU7. The change in pace means transaction confirmations can occur more frequently, but that alone does not establish an increase in activity or user numbers.
Early signs of more regular block production also emerged after the upgrade. The observed orphan block rate was 0.69% over the 24 hours ending on the morning of November 9, according to a CoinDesk report citing the ZecBlock mining tracker. The report compared that rate with about 0.66% before NU7, while noting that a change in the monitoring window makes a direct comparison more difficult. The two rates describe part of block production performance and are not, by themselves, enough to infer a change in network security or miners’ confidence. The record hashrate remains news concurrent with the start of the upgrade, while attributing that figure to a specific change requires separate evidence.
NU7 also changes how transaction fees are handled: its sustainability mechanism directs 60% of fees from each block to a general reserve, while miners receive the remaining 40%, according to The Block. The reserved fees are scheduled to begin being reissued gradually through mining rewards at block 8,939,664, which is expected to be reached in 2031. The upgrade retains Zcash’s supply cap of 21 million ZEC and its existing halving schedule despite the shorter block time. The change thus combines a faster target pace with a reorganization of the fee share, without changing the supply cap. The start of reissuance is a future date tied to reaching the specified block number.
The upgrade specifications also set limits on shielded transactions aimed at reducing the maximum daily wallet data-download burden in a worst-case scenario from 271 to 169 megabytes. The specifications also estimate that simple shielded payment capacity could rise from about 3 transactions per second to more than 6 as blocks occur more frequently. These are estimates tied to the upgrade’s design; a higher block frequency does not by itself mean a higher daily issuance of ZEC. On hashrate, CoinDesk Research estimated that average mining work was about 30 GSol/s in October, up about 10% from about 28 GSol/s in September. This came despite a 13% decline in ZEC’s price between September 30 and October 31, a monthly comparison that predates NU7 activation and does not establish the cause of the record level reported later.
Days after NU7 activated, developers Dave Aujla and Evan Forbes proposed cutting the target block time from 25 to 20 seconds. CoinDesk reported that the proposal was put forward on Sunday for discussion in a community poll, with the possibility of consideration for the NU7.1 upgrade. The proposal had not been approved or given an activation date when the report was published. It also does not aim to increase total daily shielded transaction capacity; the proposal calls for reducing the number of transactions allowed in each block to offset the increase in the number of blocks. The shift to 20 seconds therefore remains an option under discussion, while the 25-second target took effect with NU7.