Arborist Call #110 | (09/18/2025) | Zcash Protocol Updates
Core Team Updates, Research & Implementation Updates, Open Announcements & Discussion.
The Zcash Arborist Calls are bi-weekly protocol development meetings focused on tracking upcoming protocol deployment logistics, consensus node implementation issues, and protocol research.
This summary focuses on the last call that took place on 09/18/2025
Big progress on Zcash Foundation’s Zebra:
Zebra now saves the last 100 blocks locally, ensuring faster restarts without re-downloading from the network.
Contributor guidelines updated, CI pipeline simplified, & productivity is way up.
This keeps Zcash infra more stable and dev friendly than ever.
New RPCs (getrawtransaction, getmempoolinfo), upstream sapling crypto integration improved error handling & testing.
External contributors are stepping up in a big way,huge thanks to the community.
Looking ahead:
PRs for ZIP-213 (shielded coinbase), health endpoints, & RPC expansions are in motion.
The team is aligning Zebra’s role as consensus software, moving wallet/client-specific features to Zaino & Zallet.
Kris announced the Zallet Alpha release!
Docs: zcash.github.io/wallet
Available via Docker & Debian.
Early stage,expect edge cases.
Community feedback is key to refining this new wallet CLI.
ECC updates:
Zashi now supports cross-chain payments (via NEAR) & nearing reverse swaps (ETH → ZEC tested by Kris).
Major progress on Rust Zcash Script interpreter critical for NU6.1 keygen. Huge PR activity driving momentum.
Za (Zingo Labs):
Zingo Labs continues strengthening Zaino in sync with Zallet & ZF guidelines
New getTransactionStatus & getSnapshot APIs, Cleanup of old deserialization & caches, and full migration to NU6.1.
Dependencies untangled, work scoped, & delivery on track.
Pablo (QEDIT):
Work on ZSA (Zcash Shielded Assets) continues across multiple crates.
Key step: sighash versioning,future proofing by allowing upgrades to new sighash algorithms without breaking tx formats Applied to Orchard, Sapling & Transparent.
He added that Orchard ZSA review prep is underway. Meanwhile, integration work is embedding ZSA + NSM changes into tx v6, ensuring readiness for upcoming upgrades.
Mariusz (Shielded Labs):
NSM progress continues. Waiting on Zcash test vector PR #101 merge.
Zebra PR for ZIP-233 rebased on latest librustzcash, but CI tests need Nu7 unstable flag
No code changes required just CI/test config adjustments.
As ZIP-233 nears merge, questions arise on timing for integrating ZIPs 234 & 235. At the same time, teams flagged overlapping transaction types in Zebra & librustzcash.
A post-NU7 roadmap meeting is planned to align on fee distribution, shared dev branches & long-term refactors
Upcoming milestones introduce minimal staking rules on testnet, then expand with quantization & unlock periods.
Community feedback against long lockups is shaping design.
Crosslink also flagged duplicated structures across Zebra & librustzcash consolidation seen as mission-critical.
Progress on Zcash PoS: Milestone 4 is broken into smaller, faster cycles. The first change shifts roster updates into normal Zcash transactions,streamlining design & paving the way for smoother workshops ahead.
Update: community polls are live on X about Crosslink’s design trade offs. Input from beyond Zcash is welcome especially as other ecosystems like Ethereum have faced similar critiques.
@aquietinvestor outlined Crosslink tokenomics: staking in Orchard with delegation to Finalizers, 30-day unbonding for security/privacy, and quantization of time & amounts to obscure links. Initial design sparked feedback. He stressed this is an initial design not final. Feedback (esp. concerns about liquidity vs. lockups) will shape the next iteration. Ultimately, the community & coin holders decide what’s acceptable.
Pablo: 30-day unbonding is too long. I like the stabilizing effect of lockups, but 7 days (like Binance) feels more balanced. Zooko: Some investors dislike 30 days. History shows responses can happen in 8 -14-30 days.
Zooko pointed out that Coinbase Prime publishes tables of various coins’ unbonding / epoch periods used as data points vs our proposed 30-day unbonding. It helps compare design trade offs from other ecosystems when considering liquidity, lockups & privacy.
Str4d: Staking isn’t just “yield”, it’s securing the network. We shouldn’t only listen to wealthy investors. Shorter unbonding may trade off with privacy. Maybe yields could vary by unbonding length.
Nate: Privacy is core. Other systems have similar risks even w/out privacy. Let’s not compromise that
Jason: We’ll publish more on these. Goal = balance liquidity & security. Mark: Shorter unbonding boosts liquidity but risks Orchard’s anonymity set. Nate: ship something simple now, then iterate fast.
