Zcash history: a timeline from Zerocash to NU7
Zcash grew out of academic research (Zerocoin in 2013 and Zerocash in 2014) and launched on 28 October 2016. Key milestones include Sapling (2018), Orchard and unified addresses (2022), halvings in 2020 and 2024, and an eventful 2026: the ECC team's exit and ZODL, the Orchard flaw, the Ironwood pool, the first US spot ZEC ETF and NU7.
Zcash's history is a mix of cryptography breakthroughs, governance arguments and regulatory pressure. 2026 alone saw more change than many earlier years combined. Here is the story in order, with dates. For exchange and legal events in more detail see the Zcash delisting tracker.
Origins: 2013 to 2016
- 2013: Researchers at Johns Hopkins University, including Matthew Green and Ian Miers, publish Zerocoin, a design for adding anonymity to Bitcoin.
- 2014: The Zerocash paper (Ben-Sasson, Chiesa, Garman, Green, Miers, Tromer and Virza) uses zk-SNARKs to hide sender, receiver and amount. It becomes the basis of Zcash.
- 2015 to 2016: Zooko Wilcox leads the Zerocoin Electric Coin Company, later the Electric Coin Company (ECC), to build Zcash.
- October 2016: A trusted-setup ceremony generates the parameters for the original Sprout pool.
- 28 October 2016: Zcash mainnet launches. For the first four years, 20% of block rewards go to the Founders' Reward.
Growth and upgrades: 2017 to 2022
- 2017: The Zcash Foundation is set up as a non-profit. Grayscale launches its Zcash Investment Trust (9 November).
- 22 May 2018: Gemini opens ZEC trading after NYDFS approval.
- 26 June 2018: Overwinter upgrade prepares the network for Sapling.
- 28 October 2018: Sapling launches, making shielded transactions fast enough for phones (zs1 addresses).
- 29 November 2018: Coinbase Pro lists ZEC.
- 11 December 2019: Blossom halves block time to 75 seconds.
- 16 July 2020: Heartwood upgrade.
- 18 November 2020: Canopy brings the first halving (block 1,046,400), ends the Founders' Reward and starts a four-year Dev Fund.
- 31 May 2022: NU5 launches the Orchard pool on Halo 2, with no trusted setup, and unified addresses.
Regulatory pressure: 2018 to 2025
As privacy coins drew regulators' attention, exchanges in several countries dropped ZEC: Coincheck in Japan (2018), Upbit and OKEx Korea (2019), Coinbase UK (2019), Bittrex (2021) and Huobi (2022). South Korea barred exchanges from handling privacy coins from March 2021. OKX removed ZEC in January 2024, and Binance put a monitoring tag on it the same month.
Zcash avoided wider delisting partly because privacy is optional. In 2024 the TEX address format (ZIP 320) was created to meet Binance's deposit rules. Binance removed the monitoring tag on 9 July 2025, and OKX relisted ZEC in late 2025.
Funding changes and a rally: 2024 to 2025
- 23 November 2024: NU6 and the second halving (block 2,726,400). The block subsidy falls to 1.5625 ZEC and the Dev Fund is replaced with 8% to Zcash Community Grants and 12% to a lockbox.
- 2025: Brave Wallet adds shielded ZEC (April), a MetaMask Snap launches (July), and Gemini adds unified-address withdrawals (August).
- October to November 2025: ZEC rises from about $74 to an intraday high of $750 on 7 November, its highest since January 2018, and shielded supply passes 5 million ZEC.
- 24 November 2025: NU6.1 turns the lockbox into a coinholder-controlled fund.
- 26 November 2025: Grayscale files to convert its Zcash Trust into a spot ETF.
2026: the year everything changed
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 7 January | The entire ECC staff resigns after CEO Josh Swihart says the Bootstrap board constructively discharged them, and announces a new company. ZEC falls about 20%; the protocol is unaffected (The Block). |
| 14 January | The Zcash Foundation says the SEC has closed its inquiry without recommending enforcement. |
| 20 January | Cake Wallet launches Zcash, shielded by default. |
| 16 February | The former ECC team announces its company's name, Zcash Open Development Lab (ZODL), and that Zashi will be renamed Zodl. |
| 9 March | ZODL announces a $25M seed round (The Block). |
| April to June | Kraken stops ZEC for clients in India (April) and the UAE (June). |
| 29 May to 3 June | A flaw is found in the Orchard circuit. An emergency soft fork freezes Orchard and the NU6.2 hard fork fixes it. ZEC falls sharply on disclosure. See the Orchard vulnerability. |
| 18 July | zcashd reaches end of life; Zebra and Zallet replace it. |
| 28 July | NU6.3 activates the Ironwood pool at block 3,428,143. Orchard becomes withdraw-only. YWallet drops Zcash support; Zkool succeeds it. See Ironwood. |
| 25 August | Grayscale's Zcash ETF (ZCSH) begins trading on NYSE Arca, the first US-listed spot Zcash ETF. |
| September | ZEC closes above $1,000 (4 September); about 88.2% of the Orchard balance has migrated by 10 September. Ledger adds native shielded ZEC on desktop (23 September). |
| Early October | ZEC reaches a local peak near $1,700, then falls to about $1,220 by 23 October (The Crypto Times). A Winklevoss spot Zcash ETF files an S-1 (6 October). NU7 activates on testnet (4 October). |
| 20 October | NU7 mainnet height 3,543,405 is agreed, targeting around 5 November 2026; a delay is still possible. |
What comes next: NU7
NU7 is planned for block 3,543,405, around 5 November 2026, though a delay is possible. It cuts the target block time from 75 to 25 seconds (ZIP 218), disables v4 transactions, which reports say makes remaining Sprout funds unspendable, and adds the Network Sustainability Mechanism (ZIP 234 and 235). The chosen configuration keeps the halving schedule and reintroduces previously removed supply from February 2031. In a ZEC holder vote, 98.9% supported keeping halvings and 99.9% of the ZEC-weighted vote backed faster blocks (Cointelegraph and FXStreet, Sep 2026). Developers said NU7 should not significantly affect wallets. We will update this page once it activates.
What the history shows
- Privacy tech keeps improving: from Sprout's slow proofs to Sapling on phones, Halo 2 with no trusted setup and a formally verified Ironwood pool.
- Optional privacy cuts both ways: it helped ZEC stay on regulated exchanges and reach an ETF, but many users never shield.
- Governance is contested but resilient: the dev fund debates and the 2026 ECC exit did not stop the network from shipping two emergency forks and a new pool within two months.
Frequently asked questions
When was Zcash created?
Zcash mainnet launched on 28 October 2016, based on the Zerocash research paper published in 2014.
Who created Zcash?
Zcash was built by the company now known as the Electric Coin Company, led by Zooko Wilcox, based on research by academics including Eli Ben-Sasson, Alessandro Chiesa, Matthew Green, Ian Miers, Eran Tromer and Madars Virza.
What happened to the Electric Coin Company in 2026?
On 7 January 2026 the entire ECC staff resigned after a dispute with the Bootstrap board and announced a new company, later named Zcash Open Development Lab (ZODL). On 16 February 2026 it announced that the Zashi wallet would be renamed Zodl.
Is there a Zcash ETF?
Yes. Grayscale's Zcash ETF (ZCSH) has traded on NYSE Arca since 25 August 2026. A Winklevoss-sponsored ETF filed an S-1 on 6 October 2026, which is a filing, not an approval.
When is NU7?
NU7 was set for block 3,543,405, around 5 November 2026, bringing 25-second blocks. A delay is possible, so check the latest news.