Zcash NU7 upgrade has an official timeline. Development organizations reached an agreement to proceed. As a result, ZEC price skyrocketed 10% to a new high of $1,526 today.
Why the Zcash NU7 upgrade matters
Co-founder Sean Bowe revealed unanimous agreement. The Zcash Foundation, Project Tachyon, Valar Group, and ZODL participated. Shielded Labs and other engineering teams also agreed.
The team plans testnet activation on October 6. Mainnet activation is set for November 5. Before then, the team will confirm block height on October 20. Code for planned features is targeted for completion by September 30.
The upgrade cuts block times from 75 seconds to 25 seconds. Therefore, confirmations become faster. Transaction performance also improves.
The upgrade keeps Zcash’s existing halving schedule. Additionally, it disables older v4 transactions. The change should have no significant wallet impact. However, it may affect full nodes and indexers. Block explorers could also be affected.
Will Grayscale’s $8,100 ZEC price prediction come earlier?
Grayscale previously predicted Zcash could rally to $1,622. That forecast assumes a 2% market share versus Bitcoin. Since then, ZEC market share rose to almost 1.65%.
ZEC price has rallied almost 100% since then. It is up 170% since the Grayscale Zcash ETF. The price broke a new high of $1,526 today. Trading volume declined 10% over the past 24 hours nevertheless.
Matt Huang’s comments sparked buying sentiment. The Paradigm founder discussed ZEC holdings and investment in the ZODL wallet. Meanwhile, Arthur Hayes plans to promote Zcash. “Should I top blast ZEC?” he said.
Grayscale Head of Research Zach Pandl shared a longer view. He argued Zcash may reach a 10% market share relative to Bitcoin. That could happen within five years. Therefore, Grayscale’s $8,100 target could arrive sooner. This depends on whether the current trend continues.