Zcash network records its first halving as Canopy upgrade activates

On Wednesday, 18 November, the privacy-focused cryptocurrency Zcash network saw its first halving in its history. Concurrently with it at block #1046400, the Canopy upgrade was activated.

As a result the mining reward for blocks found fell from 6.25 ZEC to 3.125 ZEC.

Activated at block 1046400!
Canopy is the fifth major network upgrade for #Zcash, and coincides with the first Zcash halvening. pic.twitter.com/ni04QPybhj

— Electric Coin Company (@ElectricCoinCo) November 18, 2020

As of publication, Zcash ranks 38th by market capitalization, about $672 million. The all-in price of ZEC is around $64. Over the last year, the coin’s price has risen by 78.7%.

The Canopy upgrade, developed by the Electric Coin Company (ECC) and the Zcash Foundation, was agreed in July. It includes five proposals to improve the Zcash blockchain (ZIPs).

One of the main innovations is the creation of a network development fund. As part of the update, a mechanism to support funding streams drawn from part of the block reward was activated, as well as changes to the consensus rules regarding the proposed structure of the development fund.

The new rules will apply for the next four years. The miners’ share of the reward funds will be 80%. Of the remaining 20%, 8% will go to the Grants Fund, 7% will be reserved for ECC, 5% to the Zcash Foundation.

Messari: for Zcash, what matters more is not the upcoming halving, but the Canopy upgrade

From a technical standpoint, the update, like all prior major upgrades on the Zcash network, is a hard fork. Accordingly, node operators need to update their software.

In early October, the Electric Coin Company, by a majority vote of investors and stakeholders, decided to reorganize under the control of the newly formed nonprofit Bootstrap Project. In an exclusive ForkLog interview, told the founder of the cryptocurrency Zuko Wilcox about its aims and objectives, as well as other challenges facing Zcash.

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