Zcash rises 62% to $880 as holders prepare for issuance vote

Zcash rose about 62% over the past week to a high of $880. ZEC later traded near $830 after retracing from the rally. ZEC traded near its highest level since 2018. Holders must have spendable shielded ZEC in Ironwood at block 3,459,350 to qualify for the vote. Organizers estimate the snapshot will occur around 19:00 UTC on Aug. 24. Block height determines eligibility rather than the clock. Voting is scheduled to begin Aug. 25 and end Sept. 14 at 19:00 UTC. Valar Group and Project Tachyon said results will be representative if at least 1 million ZEC participates in at least one of five questions, including abstentions. One proposal would replace periodic halvings with a gradual issuance curve. The proposal would recycle ZEC removed from circulation through the Network Sustainability Mechanism into future block rewards. The proposal would not change Zcash's total supply cap. ZIP 218 would reduce target block time from 75 seconds to 25 seconds. The change would target three times as many blocks each day. Reward adjustments would keep issuance broadly unchanged over time. Holders will also consider the timing for returning removed ZEC through block rewards. The options include immediately, February 2027, and February 2031. Other questions cover disabling transactions tied to the deprecated Sprout pool. Holders will decide whether NU7 launches without features that miss a Sept. 30 deadline. Approved changes would require development and deployment before becoming Zcash consensus rules.