Zcash developers have put forward a draft proposal to shorten the network’s target block interval from 25 seconds to 20 seconds, only days after the NU7 upgrade reduced it from 75 seconds to 25 seconds on mainnet.

The draft Zcash Improvement Proposal, submitted Sunday by developers ValarDragon and Evan Forbes on the Zcash community forum, is intended for the next community poll and for possible inclusion in the planned NU7.1 network upgrade.

A second reduction under discussion

The proposed change is aimed at reducing the expected wait for initial transaction confirmations. In the draft, the authors argue that quicker first confirmations could improve the experience for several common use cases on the network.

They specifically pointed to point-of-sale payments, exchange deposits and cross-chain swaps as areas that could benefit from a shorter target block interval. The proposal remains at the draft stage and has not been presented as an adopted network change.

What the authors say would stay the same

According to the proposal, lowering the block interval again would not raise Zcash’s overall daily capacity for private transactions. The developers also said the network’s existing issuance schedule would remain intact even if blocks are produced more frequently.

That means the draft is framed as a change to confirmation timing rather than a broader increase in throughput or an alteration to Zcash’s issuance model.

Coming just after the NU7 activation

The timing is notable because Zcash only recently completed a much larger block-time reduction. On Friday, the NU7 upgrade went live on mainnet and cut the target block interval from 75 seconds to 25 seconds.

NU7 also added a Network Sustainability Mechanism. That system is designed to recycle part of transaction fees into future mining rewards while keeping Zcash’s 21 million ZEC supply cap unchanged.

Next step is community consideration

For now, the 20-second target exists as a draft ZIP on the community forum. The authors said they want it included in the next community poll and considered for NU7.1, which would be the next network upgrade under discussion.

Whether the idea advances will depend on that community process. At this stage, the confirmed facts are the submission of the proposal, its stated goals around faster confirmations, and its claim that Zcash’s private transaction capacity and issuance schedule would remain unchanged.

Source: cointelegraph.com