On October 26, Zach Pandl, head of research at Grayscale, highlighted that 20% of Zcash’s issuance is allocated to a development fund embedded in the protocol, while 80% goes to miners and does not include transaction fees. The NU6 update assigned 8% of that issuance to Zcash Community Grants, with the remaining 12% funding a protocol reserve known as the “lockbox,” before NU6.1 introduced holder-directed funding on November 24, 2025. In the third quarter of 2026, holders approved 17 of 37 proposals, representing $8.39 million, including ValarGroup’s work on the new Ironwood confidential transaction pool. Activated on July 28, 2026, Ironwood addresses an Orchard vulnerability that could have enabled the creation of counterfeit ZEC, although no exploitation has been observed. This funding model provides a recurring source for securing the network without excluding private capital, but it does not yet provide complete post-quantum protection.
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