The next funding debate for Zcash (ZEC) centers on whether to keep an 8% block-reward share for adoption grants or redirect more of the money toward future miner rewards.
In an Oct. 29 preliminary outline, Zcash Community Grants (ZCG) considers moving about 36,200 ZEC of its roughly 91,500-ZEC treasury into the Network Sustainability Mechanism (NSM), which reserves funds for future miner rewards. The transfer is conditional on community support.
The outline would leave roughly 55,200 ZEC in ZCG’s treasury and taper future allocations to both ZCG and Coinholder Grants. ZCG estimates the transfer and lower future grants together would redirect about 98,000 ZEC from ZCG toward future block rewards. The group says its allocation is larger than it can spend effectively and said a full proposal and community decision would follow.
Daira-Emma Hopwood’s forum draft, posted Oct. 31 and marked “Draft” and “Unassigned,” offers a different approach. It would rename the ZCG pool as the Zcash Adoption Pool (ZAP), with the grant program becoming ZAP Grants and the committee becoming the ZAP Committee. Existing ZCG assets would be associated with ZAP under the draft.
The proposal would keep the allocation’s current value and duration. Applications would need to give reviewers reasonable confidence that grant funds will be further disbursed to increase the number of people who directly hold or transact in ZEC.
ZIP 1016 directs 8% of block rewards to ZCG and 12% to a separate Coinholder-Controlled Fund. Hopwood’s draft concerns the ZCG allocation and does not propose changing the separate fund. The dispute continues an earlier debate over Zcash’s block-reward funding system, including a community member’s push to end it early.
The NSM is part of the NU7 upgrade. The Zcash Foundation lists Nov. 5 as the mainnet target at block 3,543,405, the activation height covered by EconoTimes. ZCG’s full proposal and a community decision remain the next steps in the funding debate.
