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!
Few days ago we got a new update from the Zcash Foundation about its roadmap of events for 2026 - 2028, designed to support learning, collaboration and innovation across the global Zcash community.
While details may shift with resources and needs, ZF's goal is to spark ideas, invite feedback, and align efforts across the ecosystem. Funding will primarily come from the Zcash Foundation's treasury, with possible co-funding for Zcon through ZCG or Coinholder initiatives.
All funding requests will be transparent and mission-aligned.
If you're curious to know about 2026, ZF's plans to launch Zcomm, one-day virtual gathering focused on how to educate, organize and engage communities.
A Dev Summit — which also happened this year — will again be held in Q1 or Q2 co-located with another developer event. Later in the year, Zcon7 will take place in person, prioritizing deep collaboration. Highlights & interviews will be shared through podcasters and content creators (If you want to learn more about ZCON, here are the playlists).
In 2027, the Dev Summit returns, potentially with a Hackathon, alogside Zcon8, a fully virtual annual conference. The team will also debut Zcon Voices, locally organized, community-led events presented in regional languages and tailored to local needs, with proposals funded via ZCAP.
In 2028, the roadmap includes another Dev Summit, either Zcon Voices or Zcomm, and Zcon9, which will be held virtually to ensure global accessibility.
By sharing this roadmap early, the Zcash Foundation hopes to foster alignment, encourage participation, and strengthen the global Zcash community.
Now that you know the Zcash Foundation’s roadmap for the coming years, why not share your opinion on what you’d like to see at Zcomm? 🙂
→ forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/announcing-zf-s-3-year-vision-for-community-events
Keep an eye open on their announcements in the forum, website and Discord for more updates.
Building on what we mentioned above, the Coinholder Poll is now open! You can shape the future of Zcash by voting with you ZEC!
This vote will determine the structure of the new Coinholder Grants Pogram, including whether it should fund only retroactive work, how to handle funding shortfalls, and whether to approve the NU6.1 proposal as the official framework.
Voting is open untill Wednesday, September 3 at 11:59 PM UTC.
How do I vote?
Download the Zcash Vote App.
Open App → New → paste election URL + Seed Phrase
Download Blockchain data → Voting Power Appers.
Go to ''Vote'‘ tab → select choices → submit votes.
Links to vote:
Important security tips to keep in mind:
Move ZEC out of your wallet before entering the seed phrase
Use the Internal Wallet switch if you use Zashi, Edge, or eZcash. You may need to vote twice (internal + external).
You can also delegate your vote to ZecHub:
zvote1ewfh5wgl2265vzgp980spc2m3hm3ydm6s9gtq8g7ghgjzxu0ve8m08l0a4lghyp9wdwgj276xrj
Key FAQs
Eligibility: Must have registered ZEC between Jan 31 – Aug 21, 2025.
Minimum: 0.01 ZEC to vote.
Voting power: 1 ZEC = 1,000 votes (e.g., 10 ZEC = 10,000 votes).
Security: With ≥4 independent validators, votes are tamper-resistant.
Process: Creation → Hosting → Voting → Auditing.
Jason McGee posted a good explanation about everything related to the Coinholder Voting.
We highly recommend you read it to learn all the details.
Zcash Nigeria 🇳🇬
On August 4, Chidi submitted a new proposal to continue the growth of Zcash Nigeria, outlining achieved goals, future plans, and the background of his team.
The main focus will be on Education & Awareness, Social Media Campaigns, In-Person Events, AMA Sessions (“Ask Me Anything”), Cross-Community Collaboration, Merchant Adoption, Incentive Programs, Sustainable Community Growth, and more.
The team now includes additional members such as @CJfrankie, @lisa001, @Hardaeborla, and @emmalexo, each bringing different experiences to contribute to the project’s growth.
The proposal is valued at $9,600, which will be distributed among the members from August to October. At the last Zcash Community Grants meeting, the committee approved the proposal. Read more.
If you would like to be part of the Zcash Nigeria community, here is the Telegram group and the Discord room — also connected to Telegram — on the Zcash Global server.
Zcash Turkey 🇹🇷
Nine days ago, Batuhan also submitted a proposal for the continuation of Zcash Turkey, valued at $10,400, proposing to deliver a series of videos about Zcash, Awareness and Education campaigns, in-person activities, hosting social media competitions, engaging people through social media, and ensuring that all resources related to Zcash are accessible in Turkish.
His proposal consists of 4 Milestones, accompanied by 2 additional team members, @Mustafa & @A.Balut777, both CM/Social Media. Read more.
Pacu shared some updates on the Zcashd deprecation. Here’s a short summary of his post.
Outreach & Ecosystem
The rollout of Zcashd 6.3.0 has been completed and monitoring is ongoing, with community feedback helping track issues. A new Zcash Network Upgrade Friction Survey has been launched to better understand challenges caused by recent transaction changes.
Zebra
The ZF team released Zebra 2.5.0, enabling NU 6.1 on testnet. The update adds Orchard batch validation and RPC improvements for better compatibility with explorers and Zcashd clients, while also maintaining CI infrastructure and Z3 distribution.
Zaino (ZingoLabs)
Work continues on the Zaino chain index API, Respec grant, and block explorer support. The in-memory backend update is pending review, which will allow WebZ.js and the Metamask snap to integrate NU 6.1.
Zallet
Development of the Zallet full node wallet is progressing toward Alpha readiness. Updates include support for zero-conf shielding, PCZT for P2SH, and dependency maintenance. A Zallet Book is available, and there’s an open call for testers and developers.
Block Explorer Support
RPC development is advancing in Zaino’s repo, with testing underway. Recent pending reviews include changes to Zec.rocks explorer such as disabling cookies.
This week, Josh's update is about comparing NASA's Gateway project to Zcash's journey, showing that real innovation takes time, persistence, and course corrections. After a difficult 2023 marked by negative sentiment and low NPS, leadership changes and new products have turned momentum around.
Zashi has been key, making shielded transactions easier, driving 30,000+ installs, and helping the shielded pool nearly triple since early 2024. Shielded Activity now makes up most network use and strongly correlates with ZEC price, proving growth comes from real adoption. 🚀
Read the full text here.
ECC Weekly Progress
ECC's current focus is on integration with NEAR Intents.
Zashi
Progress made: ✔️
All final requirements implemented for ''Swap from ZEC'',
Swap from ZEC has been released to beta testing.
Upcoming: ➡️
Release testing & bug fixing,
Get ''Swap from ZEC''to production ASAP!,
Switch development focus to NEAR Integration: Pay with ZEC,
Product/Design focus on NEAR integration: Swap into ZEC.
🍎 │ IOS Analytics:
📈Unique Installs: 9.39k (prev. 9.39k )
⬇️Total Downloads: 11.5k (prev. 11.3k)
⭐AppStore Rating: 4.9*
🤖 │ Android Analytics:
📈Total Install Base: 3.86k (prev. 3.85k)
⬇️Total Installs (incl. Open Beta): 21.9k (prev.21.6k)
⭐PlayStore Rating: 4.304*
Zcash Core 🦓
Progress made: ✔️
NU6.1 spec updates (zips#1069).
Zaino updated to latest librustzcash.
Draft PR for PCZT format.
Confirmation policy in zcash_client_backend.
Lightwallet protocol changes.
Upcoming: ➡️
P2SH support for NU6.1 mainnet release.
Zallet Alpha.
Zcashd wallet import.
Updates to z_viewtransaction.
Others 🌐
Josh Met with Grayscale for bi-directional updates on the fund and Zcash happenings.
Completed application to add ZEC to Transak.
Josh Met with the BA Privacy Working Group about upcoming plans.
Participated in a Blockchain Advisory Council meeting for the Virginia Committee of Technology & Science.
Continued work on an application for a retroactive grant for coinholder voting.