Zcash pays for its own development from block rewards, so its builders don't depend on outside investors
Today, 8% of every block reward goes to Zcash Community Grants and 12% to a fund that coin holders control. Miners keep the rest
The funding has changed with each halving: a founders' reward at launch, a Development Fund from 2020, a lockbox from 2024, and coin-holder control since November 2025
Coin holders vote on how the 12% fund is used. Zcash Community Grants decides its own grants
Want funding? Apply to Zcash Community Grants for new work, or to the coin-holder retroactive grants for work you've already done
Who is this for
New Zcash users who want to know who pays for Zcash
Builders, writers and translators looking for funding
Coin holders who want to understand what they vote on
Why this matters
Zcash has no company that owns it. Someone still has to pay for wallets, node software, research and education. Instead of raising money from investors, Zcash sets aside part of each new block reward for development. That keeps the people building Zcash focused on its users and its privacy mission.
How it has changed
Period
What happened
Split of each block reward
2016 to 2020
Founders' reward. Paid Zcash's founders, early investors, employees and the Zcash Foundation, until the first halving
8% Zcash Community Grants, 12% to the Coinholder-Controlled Fund, seeded with the lockbox
In every period, miners have kept the other 80%.
How it works today
Since NU6.1 went live on November 24, 2025, two funding streams come out of each block reward:
8% to Zcash Community Grants (ZCG). An independent committee funds new work for the Zcash ecosystem: wallets, tools, research, education and events.
12% to the Coinholder-Controlled Fund. It started with the coins saved in the lockbox. Coin holders vote on whether to pay out grants from it or leave it at rest. Key-Holder Organizations hold the funds and are legally bound to use them only as the coin holders decide (ZIP 1016).
This model runs until Zcash's third halving. ZIP 1016 allows for that date to move, because NU7 changes block timing. The community then decides whether to keep it, change it or end it.
Who decides
Zcash Community Grants reviews applications and votes on each grant.
Coin holders vote with their ZEC on proposals for the 12% fund. They don't lock their coins to vote.
Changes to the funding itself need a new ZIP and a network upgrade, after community discussion on the Zcash Community Forum.
