Zcash turns 10 as Grayscale credits developer funding for innovation

Grayscale has credited Zcash’s allocation of 20% of block rewards to development funding for supporting a decade of privacy and security upgrades as the cryptocurrency approaches its tenth anniversary on October 28. Summary Grayscale credits Zcash’s 20% developer allocation with supporting continued protocol upgrades. Miners receive 80% of block rewards, while development programs receive the remaining 20%. Ironwood introduced formally verified supply protections and quantum-recoverable notes in July 2026. Zcash’s current funding arrangement divides block rewards between two grant programs. According to an October 26 research report, Zach Pandl, Grayscale’s head of research, said the funding arrangement has helped Zcash (ZEC) continue improving its technology through prolonged bear markets and periods of weak token performance. The asset manager pointed to the network’s successive shielded transaction systems, including the Ironwood upgrade introduced in July 2026, as evidence of sustained investment in protocol development. Grayscale points to Zcash’s 20% developer funding model Unlike Bitcoin, where miners receive the full block subsidy, Zcash reserves one-fifth of newly issued b...