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Zcash’s NU7 upgrade has two October milestones, but neither is a confirmed mainnet activation date. Public testnet activation is expected on October 6, 2026, at height 4,465,026. October 20 is the planned point to assess testnet results, decide whether to proceed, and set a mainnet activation height. November 5 is listed as a target for mainnet activation, not a locked-in date.
What each October date means
| Date | Milestone | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| October 2, 2026 | Zebra 7.0.0-rc.0 announced | The Zcash Foundation described this as the first NU7 release candidate. It is pre-release software, not a stable release. |
| October 6, 2026 | Expected public-testnet activation at height 4,465,026 | Testnet operators are asked to upgrade before the activation height to stay on the NU7 test chain and help test it. |
| October 20, 2026 | Planned decision and mainnet-height setting | The community timeline identifies this as a point to review testnet experience and make the mainnet go/no-go decision. It is not the mainnet activation itself. |
| November 5, 2026 | Target mainnet activation | This is a scheduled target in the community timeline, subject to the October decision. As of the Foundation’s October 2 announcement, no mainnet activation height had been set. |
The schedule comes from the Zcash Foundation’s October 2 announcement and the NU7 community timeline. Because the activation and decision dates are still ahead as of October 3, 2026, treat them as planned or expected rather than completed events.
What NU7 is expected to change
Faster target block spacing, with issuance adjusted
The Foundation says NU7 is planned to shorten target block spacing from 75 seconds to 25 seconds. That does not mean ZEC issuance rises threefold: the block subsidy and remaining halving intervals are adjusted so that daily issuance remains unchanged, according to the Foundation’s announcement.
A reserve funded by transaction fees
The proposed Network Sustainability Mechanism directs 60% of transaction fees into a reserve and leaves 40% with miners. The Foundation says a small, predictable portion of the reserve will be reissued per block. These are protocol mechanics described for NU7, not a forecast of ZEC’s market price or investment return.
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Limits on shielded transaction actions
The release candidate implements transaction limits of 330 Orchard or Ironwood actions, 300 Sapling inputs and outputs, and a shared pool budget of 330; it does not allow new Sprout JoinSplits. The Foundation says the limits more than double Orchard protocol throughput and reduce worst-case light-wallet sync load by about 37%. Those performance figures are the Foundation’s stated estimates, not independent measurements.
Who needs to pay attention now
Public-testnet operators
Operators of testnet infrastructure should follow the official release instructions and upgrade before height 4,465,026 if they intend to remain on the NU7 test chain. The point of this phase is to test the candidate and surface problems before a mainnet decision.
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Mainnet node operators
The Foundation’s October 2 notice says: “Mainnet operators do not need to do anything yet: no Mainnet activation height has been set, and this is a release candidate, not a stable release.” Do not treat Zebra 7.0.0-rc.0 as a general mainnet upgrade instruction.
Miners, pools, and infrastructure developers
The candidate includes changes relevant to block templates and coinbase behavior, as well as database, library API, and RPC changes. Miners, pools, wallet developers, indexers, and block-explorer operators should review the release notes and test integrations on testnet rather than assume compatibility.
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The Foundation lists breaking changes affecting testnet node operators, miners and pools, and wallet or infrastructure developers. For Zebra specifically, the state database moves to format v29. A compatible v28 database is migrated on first start, downgrading is not supported, and operators who want a recovery option are told to back up the v28 state before starting the candidate. These database details apply to this Zebra release candidate; they are not universal instructions for every Zcash client.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What ordinary Zcash users should expect
The community timeline says NU7 introduces no new transaction format and disables v4 transactions. It expects no significant effect on wallets in ordinary use, while warning that full nodes, indexers, and block explorers may be affected. This does not establish a need for users to migrate wallets immediately. Wallet and infrastructure developers should confirm compatibility through their own release channels.
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The timeline’s plain-language summary is: “New transaction formats do not appear in this network upgrade!” That distinction matters: changes to node or indexing infrastructure do not automatically mean a user needs a new wallet or a different way to send funds.
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How to follow the schedule safely
- For testnet participation, use current instructions from the Zcash Foundation’s release announcement; do not substitute a release-candidate download for stable mainnet software.
- Watch for the October 20 decision and the mainnet activation height. Until then, November 5 remains a target, not a confirmed activation.
- If you operate Zebra and are testing this candidate, account for the one-way v28-to-v29 database migration and back up the existing state before first start if rollback matters.
- For exchange deposits, follow the exchange’s own confirmation policy. The available official sources do not establish one universal confirmation count for NU7.
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