Zcash has switched on its NU7 network upgrade on testnet, Cointelegraph reported on October 5, 2026. The new rules are now running in a live test environment, about one month before the planned mainnet launch in November.
One of the protocol changes in NU7 is 25-second blocks. Developers now have several weeks to check these blocks and the other changes before mainnet. The report does not list the other changes in detail.
Two things are not yet known: whether testing will find problems, and whether the November target will hold. The article does not give an exact mainnet date. Ezra Reguerra wrote the report and Felix Ng reviewed it.
For anyone who already holds a ZEC perpetual on Bitget, Bybit, MEXC or OKX, nothing changes directly today. This is a testnet activation, so the live Zcash network is not affected. Funding, fees and liquidity on those contracts do not change because of this event.
Source: cointelegraph — Zcash activates NU7 on testnet ahead of November mainnet target