Zcash co-founder proposes redirecting grants funding stream

Zcash (ZEC) co-founder Sean Bowe has proposed ending the 8% block subsidy allocation to Zcash Community Grants and redirecting it to the Network Sustainability Mechanism.

The draft would redirect the allocation for the remainder of the existing funding stream’s term, while leaving miners’ 80% share and the separate 12% Coinholder-Controlled Fund unchanged.

“It's time to turn off the ZCG funding stream,” Sean Bowe wrote on X, arguing that the grants programme already holds substantial reserves.

The draft states that Zcash Community Grants holds 91,452.98 ZEC and approximately $8.8 million in US dollar-denominated assets, against $2.4 million in outstanding grant commitments.

The proposal would redirect the remaining 8% allocation to the Network Sustainability Mechanism, where the value would be withheld from issuance and credited to its fund.

The proposal would not transfer Zcash Community Grants’ existing assets or alter its current grant-making arrangements, allowing the programme to continue meeting existing commitments.

The draft also leaves Zcash’s maximum supply unchanged, while shifting future subsidy allocation away from automatic grants funding towards the network’s sustainability reserve.

Following the update, ZEC was trading up 8.2% at $1,313.51