Zcash Shielded News | Volume 1
NU7 Launch Timeline, Incentives and Future of Zcash - ECC Update & ZavaX Updates
Zcash Shielded News is a community article format based on the weekly Zcash Ecosystem Digest Newsletter.
Providing insight on current events and informing the community about important news in the Zcash ecosystem.
Check out the best Highlights below
To start our Zcash Shielded News Vol. 1, after months of development in partnership with several developers, ECC has released its 6.0.0 version for Zcashd which will implement NU6 on the Zcash mainnet on or near Block Halving on November 23rd.
NU6 (Network Upgrade 6) will bring a new funding system called Hybrid Lockbox that will allocate 12% of miner rewards to continued community support of Zcash Community Grants, while the rest of the percentage will be allocated to miners and a decentralized vault for future community proposals.
Version 6.0.0 includes consensus and activation height for NU6, if you have zcashd 5.10.0, it will stop working on November 5, 2024.
Curious about NU6? Detailed information here.
Continuing the NU6 momentum, we have some news about NU7! 🙂
NU7 is the most anticipated network upgrade. However, its complexity has raised enough questions that the community has entered into extensive discussions.
At a recent meeting, the editors of the ZIPs (Zcash Improvement Proposals) outlined an optimistic timeline for NU7 to be implemented by 2025.
It brings a general expectation from the community about the arrival of ZSAs (Zcash Shielded Assets, an extension of the protocol that is being worked on by QEDIT sponsored by ZCG).
It will also mark the official sunsetting of zcashd (node maintained by ECC), since ZSAs are not expected to be implemented on it.
By 5 November 2024, all proposals seeking inclusion in NU7 must have been submitted as ZIPs, containing sufficiently stable semantic content to make a technical and community decision on whether to include them in NU7.
In particular, this applies to ZSA ZIPs (which are almost ready), but of course to any other ZIPs.
NU7 Timeline 📅
November 5, 2024:
NU7 ZIPs deadline.
February 2025:
NU7 testnet activation height set. Zebra launch with all NU6 consensus rules implemented.
March 2025:
NU7 Testnet Activation. Wallets should be updated to support the likely new transaction format, and possibly add ZSA support if desired.
April 2025
Developers expect the zcash replacement wallet to be ready so that zcashd psosam noders can start migrating to Zebra + Replacement Wallet.
May 2025:
The latest release of zcashd reaches end of service (EOS). The network will become mostly Zebra-only. A new version of zcashd with updated end of service will be ready in case something unexpected happens to the network.
Around the end of May, Zebra launch with NU7 mainnet activation time set.August 2025:
Activation of NU7!
Josh Swihart closed last week with a reflection on cryptocurrency applications and infrastructure, believing that the main application of crypto should be money and that, despite the growth of stablecoins, regulated fiat-based tokens do not bring the necessary freedom. What the world really needs is private electronic money, without state control.
Bitcoin was originally supposed to be this form of electronic money, but problems with transparency, surveillance, scalability and high fees have made it more of a “digital gold” than actual money.
Zcash, on the other hand, offers a more “cash-like” approach, with private transactions. However, it is not yet ready for mass global adoption, as it does not scale well and the application stack required for widespread use is not yet complete. Josh believes that it is perhaps a good thing that the world has not yet realized its urgent need for something like Zcash.
The gist of the message is that instead of focusing on the market’s lack of interest in privacy, we should build applications that people actually want to use, with privacy built in. Successful applications tend to be simple, engaging, and follow the cue-routine-reward cycle, becoming part of people’s daily lives.
To drive adoption of private and secure transactions, we need to provide practical incentives and create engaging and intuitive experiences, rather than relying solely on arguments about human rights or greater interests.
Dig deeper into the idea here.
Progress of the Week
Zashi 📱
Zashi’s latest Apple release is stuck in review. The AppStore is once again asking for more details about ECC’s partnership with Coinbase.
Zashi Design
Screenshots Updated & Finalized on AppStore
Updated ‘‘Welcome’’ Wallpaper
Progress on Redesign in Transaction History
Updates Based on Product & Development Feedback
Ongoing Progress on Android Screenshots
Work Started on Secret Design Project
iOS 🍎
Unique Installs: 3.48k
Total Downloads: 4.12k
Rating: 4.9 ★
Version 1.2.1 completed and uploaded to the AppStore (Release currently blocked for review).
Coinbase logo now visible on the ‘‘Settings’’ screen.
Gradient background on the ‘‘Welcome’’ screen implemented.
Fixed a reported bug about multiple QR Codes being scanned at the same time, which broke navigation.
Flexa 1.0.4 Adoption & Testing - identified a bug that caused Zashi to freeze, resolved by ECC before Flexa could find a proper fix.
Consolidated button designs across the app and adjusted many screens to accommodate future changes/updates.
Android 🤖
Total Install Base: 2.10k
Total Installs (incl. Open Beta): 7.36k
Rating: 4.690 ★
Finalizing Address Book storage.
New QR Code details screen added.
Updated scanning UI.
Transaction History redesigned - added option to create a contact from an unknown address.
Flexa 1.0.4 - issues tested and reported.
Others 🌐
ECC was planning to release a roadmap for Q4 last week, but decided to reevaluate product research activities and plan to launch this week.
ECC is making changes to its marketing approach in support of Zashi and education around Zcash. Chris and Richard will be leaving ECC in a little over a month, so ECC will soon be opening a full-time Director of Marketing and Communications position.
Zashi-Coinbase video competition winner announcement next week.
ZavaX is a Zcash Community Grants-sponsored project to build an Avalanche-Zcash bridge to increase Zcash’s scalability by connecting to the Avalanche network, hence the term ‘Bridge’.
As Zcash sacrificed scalability for security, ZavaX came to meet the need for ZEC to scale, allowing users to perform DeFi & Swaps with a bridged ZEC.Z asset.
In this milestone, the red-dev team implemented security best practices to protect the ZavaX Oracle subnet, publishing a report describing the attempted penetration to prevent the ZavaX Oracle subnet from operating.
Kit told us that this was a laborious but necessary delivery in order to ensure the bridge implementation is secure and robust.
The ZavaX Oracle was divided from 3 nodes to 8 different servers, each with its own function and layer of protection. Pen tests on all servers and configuration adjustments were made - all tests passed.
Another important piece of news is that the name ZavaX will be changed to red-bridge. The Staking token ticker now changes from ZAX to RBR. The last time we will see ‘‘ZavaX’’ used in the ZavaX oracle tesnet.