TL;DR
Zcash Community Grants withdrew a proposal to redirect 98,000 ZEC toward mining rewards after community criticism, returning the issue to Zcash’s governance process.
The plan would have moved 36,200 ZEC from ZCG’s treasury and tapered income, cutting expected receipts through 2028 from 109,000 ZEC to about 47,000.
Competing proposals remain unresolved, while ZCG continues receiving 8% of newly created ZEC until a network upgrade changes rules.
Zcash Community Grants has withdrawn a proposal that would have redirected about 98,000 ZEC toward future mining rewards after strong community criticism. In an official forum update , ZCG said it would not take the plan forward and that decisions over the Dev Fund and its treasury should return to Zcash’s usual governance process. The withdrawal leaves ZCG’s existing funding rules unchanged , while debate continues around Zcash governance and development financing.
Zcash Funding Debate Remains Unresolved
The plan, introduced October 29, sought to reduce ZCG’s future funding and route the difference into the Network Sustainability Mechanism, a reserve designed to support future block rewards. ZCG proposed moving about 36,200 ZEC from its roughly 91,500-ZEC treasury while tapering expected income through future halvings. Together, those changes would have redirected about 98,000 ZEC toward future mining rewards . The taper would cut ZCG income through the 2028 cycle from 109,000 ZEC to roughly 47,000 ZEC, extending an ongoing debate over ZCG’s 8% block subsidy .
Under current rules, ZCG receives 8% of newly created ZEC, equivalent to roughly 144 ZEC per day. The committee argued that this stream now provides more funding than it can deploy effectively, but critics challenged both the proposed solution and the broader governance structure. The dispute centers on who should control development funding and how unused allocations should be handled , an issue already visible in Zcash’s broader Dev Fund debate .
Alternative proposals remain active. Zcash co-founder Sean Bowe has proposed ending ZCG’s automatic 8% allocation and redirecting future funds to the Network Sustainability Mechanism, while a separate draft with Zooko Wilcox would move 50,000 ZEC from ZCG and redirect future funding toward development and legal defense. Daira-Emma Hopwood has proposed retaining the 8% allocation while refocusing grants. None of these competing approaches has been adopted , leaving the network’s governance process to determine what comes next.
For now, ZCG continues receiving its existing allocation until a future network upgrade changes the rules. Its withdrawn plan would also have preserved Zcash’s 21 million coin cap and existing halving schedule while shifting when some issuance reached miners. The committee’s reversal removes one proposal, not the underlying funding dispute , which remains intertwined with the Network Sustainability Mechanism and upcoming NU7 monetary changes as community members weigh development spending against long-term mining incentives.
