Today, we opened a SIV poll of the Zcash Community Advisory Panel (ZCAP), which will run until Monday, September 14th, 19:00 UTC, concurrently with the coinholder poll. The purpose of this poll is to resolve the outstanding scope questions for NU7.
Deciding the Scope of NU7
This poll follows the NU7 Sentiment Polling from earlier this year, which surfaced where the community stood on a range of possible NU7 features. Several questions were left open, and this poll is intended to settle them. We announced the poll earlier this month, and the questions themselves were discussed there in the weeks since.
There are five questions. Each one is answered separately, and every question includes an option to abstain.
Q1 - NSM Issuance Smoothing
The component of the Network Sustainability Mechanism that removes ZEC from circulation is already approved. How that ZEC is recycled into future block rewards remains unresolved. In no case will the total supply of ZEC be affected. Refs: ZIP 233, ZIP 234.
Which approach do you support?
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Smooth issuance curve. Replace halvings with a gradual issuance curve. ZEC removed from circulation by the NSM is recycled into future block rewards along the same curve.
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Preserve halvings. Keep the existing halving schedule for new ZEC. ZEC removed from circulation by the NSM is eventually recycled into future block rewards.
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Do not include issuance smoothing in NU7. How ZEC removed from circulation by the NSM is recycled into future block rewards is left to future governance.
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Abstain.
Q2 - NSM Reissuance Start Date
NSM has prior coinholder approval. This question concerns the start of reissuance of funds removed from circulation (which includes at least 60% of total fees). When should NSM reissuance of funds removed from circulation begin?
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As soon as possible. If the outcome of Q1 is smoothed issuance, this will be February 2027; otherwise it may be sooner.
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February 2027, regardless of the outcome of Q1.
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February 2031, regardless of the outcome of Q1.
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Abstain.
Q3 - Sprout Deprecation
The Sprout pool was deprecated in 2018. Deposits are disabled, it holds less than 23,000 ZEC, and it accounts for under 0.1% of transaction volume. Disabling v4 transactions is now broadly accepted; only timing is open. The disposition of the affected funds is out of scope for this poll and is not specified here. When should v4 transactions be disabled?
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Immediately at NU7 activation.
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One year after this poll concludes.
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Do not set a date to disable v4 transactions.
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Abstain.
Q4 - Faster Block Times
Should we reduce the block target spacing from 75s to 25s, and introduce per-pool action limits, per ZIP 218?
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Yes.
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No.
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Abstain.
Q5 - NU7 Scope and Readiness
NU7 will be consistent with the results of this poll, assuming each applicable feature is implemented by September 30th. How should features that are not ready by the deadline be handled?
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Ship NU7 as soon as possible, removing any feature that is not implemented by the September 30th deadline.
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Delay NU7 until every applicable feature approved in this poll is deemed complete.
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I do not support this NU7 plan.
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Abstain.
Voting
ZCAP members should check their mailbox for instructions on how to vote from election@siv.org. In the past, SIV emails have sometimes been flagged as spam, so if you can’t find the instructions please check your Spam folder.
Why ZCAP Matters
The ZCAP process is a transparent, community-driven way to surface the views and priorities of long-term Zcash supporters. Though advisory in nature, these votes play a vital role in informing decisions across the ecosystem. Thank you for lending your voice.
As always, we welcome feedback from the Zcash Community. If you have comments or suggestions, please join the conversation here.