Zcash Rises 9% to $1,310, Back in Top 10 Ahead of NU7 Upgrade
Zcash climbed 9.4% to $1,310 and returned to tenth by market cap ahead of NU7, which cuts block times to 25 seconds. Analysts watch $1,370 as the short squeeze trigger while Sprout pool funds become unspendable at activation.
Zcash (ZEC) is back in the top 10. A roughly 9% climb to $1,310 on Nov. 4 returned the privacy coin to tenth place by market capitalization, one day before the NU7 network upgrade is expected to activate. CoinGecko data showed $1,310.03, up 9.4% over 24 hours, with a session range of $1,159.27 to $1,347.03.
The bounce stopped short of the level traders are watching. Analyst Ardi flags $1,370 as a trigger that could squeeze shorts, and ZEC needs about 4.6% to get there. The session high of $1,347.03 never touched it, so the breakout condition is unmet.
Analyst Jesse Olson said in a Nov. 4 X post that ZEC found support and broke above a descending trendline, though a daily buy signal is still pending. Trader Altcoin Sherpa said he entered a perpetual futures long the previous night while holding spot ZEC. His election-based reasoning was never established as the cause of the advance, so treat the rally as unattributed.
What NU7 changes
According to the Zcash Foundation release, NU7 activates at mainnet block 3,543,405, expected around Nov. 5. That date is an estimate: activation follows the chain reaching that height, not the calendar.
Under ZIP 218, target block time drops from 75 to 25 seconds, and the scheduled subsidy per block falls by a factor of three, with halving intervals adjusted. The foundation says the four-year halving schedule and the 21 million supply cap are unchanged, so scheduled daily issuance is not materially higher.
The upgrade also adds a Network Sustainability Mechanism. It sends 60% of transaction fees into a reserve and leaves miners 40%. Reissuance from that reserve starts at mainnet block 8,939,664.
Risks for holders and operators
Version 4 transactions become invalid at activation. Sprout transfers depend on that version, so the foundation says ZEC still sitting in the Sprout pool will become unspendable. Anyone with legacy funds there has an operational problem, not a trading one.
Node operators must install compatible software before activation. Seven Zebra security fixes accompany the preparations.
Funding fight is still open
Zcash Community Grants withdrew its roughly 98,000 ZEC proposal to redirect funds toward mining rewards after community feedback. It included about 36,200 ZEC from the existing treasury plus reduced expected funding before the 2028 halving.
A competing 50,000 ZEC proposal backed by Tachyon Group and Shielded Labs remains only a proposal, and its funding changes would need an upgrade after NU7. Until something is approved, the committee keeps its existing 8% allocation.
Context
ZEC has had a busy news cycle, from a January 2027 deadline for quantum-resistant payments to a spot Zcash ETF filing from Winklevoss. For traders, the setup is simple: $1,370 is the line, the Olson signal is unconfirmed, and a protocol upgrade with a hard activation block adds event risk either way.
