Given ZEC’s appreciation, I think some or all of the next Dev Fund should be recycled into future block rewards via the Network Sustainability Mechanism (NSM).
The treasuries held by ZCG and the Coinholder Grants Program are now worth substantially more than they were when the current Dev Fund was approved. By 2028, both programs will have accumulated significant amounts of ZEC and, assuming the price remains at current levels or appreciates further, will have sufficient funding to support development for many years.
If that’s the case, they would not require the same level of issuance that was necessary when the Dev Fund was renewed. Rather than allocating 20% of block rewards to the Dev Fund, some or all of those funds could be recycled into future block rewards. Doing so would extend the emissions curve and make more issuance available to secure the network in the future. It might also reduce short-term sell pressure by delaying the issuance of new ZEC.
This is something we should consider as part of the next Dev Fund renewal discussion.