Zcash co-founder Sean Bowe wants to stop sending newly created coins to the network's grant program. His October 26 draft would redirect its 8% allocation to a reserve while leaving the program's existing money untouched. [1]

For holders of Zcash's native coin, ZEC, the distinction matters: fewer coins would arrive in a treasury that can spend them. But the reserve is designed to release coins later. This is a proposed change in the timing and destination of supply, without a guaranteed price benefit. [2]

Zcash subsidy allocation on a 100 ZEC illustrative basis: 80 for miners and 12 for the coinholder-controlled fund stay unchanged. The remaining 8 would move from Community Grants to a network reserve under Sean Bowe's draft. The proposal is not active and does not confiscate existing grants.
The same 8%, a different destination. Original SpecCoins illustration of the current funding split and Bowe's draft. Percentages use a 100 ZEC subsidy basis, not one actual block. The redirected share would be withheld from issuance; transaction fees are outside this comparison. [1] [3]
View allocations and scope
Illustrative shares of Zcash block subsidy
RecipientCurrentBowe draft
Miners80%80%
Coinholder-Controlled Fund12%12%
Community Grants8%0%
Reserve from this allocation0%8%

80 = 100 - 12 - 8. Exact per-block amounts follow integer rounding. No existing treasury balance is moved. Reserve reissuance follows separate rules; this is not a permanent burn or an 8% cut in total lifetime supply.

A grant program that could keep granting

Zcash Community Grants funds independent teams building things such as wallets, privacy tools and user support. A five-person elected committee chooses the projects. Its funding currently includes 8% of mining rewards through the third halving, expected in November 2028. [4]

Bowe's argument is that this automatic income has outgrown the program's needs. Cutting off the stream would leave it able to honor commitments and approve new grants from the assets it already holds. The separate fund directed by coinholders would retain its 12% allocation. [1] [3]

“This ZIP changes future subsidy allocations only.”

Sean Bowe's draft Zcash Improvement Proposal, created October 26, 2026
Proposed grant-funding change [1]

The treasury is not all cash

The public grant dashboard shows roughly 91,453 ZEC and $8.8 million in dollars, alongside about $2.4 million in grant obligations. Its reference is October 21 and it is marked “Updates required,” so those figures are a dated snapshot. [5]

That mix makes the available budget sensitive to ZEC's price. Keeping a large coin balance can support more work when its value rises; a decline can shrink the same program's spending power. Ending new allocations would make the existing treasury's management more consequential.

A reserve can put coins back

The proposed Network Sustainability Mechanism would hold value outside circulating supply, then gradually reissue it through future mining rewards. Its stated purpose is to help pay for the computing work securing Zcash over time, while preserving the supply cap and scheduled halvings. [2]

That could delay some spendable supply. It would not erase the coins permanently, and grants already holding ZEC could still use their funds. The economic trade is between continuing automatic project funding and reserving more value for future network security.

Bowe's pull request remains open. His draft has no assigned activation point and says it is not included in the currently specified next upgrade. There is no approved cutoff for grant payments yet. The consequential decision is whether Zcash's community accepts that its grant treasury has enough, rather than how quickly a new rule can be switched on. [1]