TLDR
- Zakura has released Zakura Common, an open-source cryptography library for Zcash that reduces private transaction creation from 3+ seconds to under 200 milliseconds
- Mobile proof generation is now more than 14 times faster, desktop more than 5 times faster
- No network upgrade or hard fork is required — wallets can adopt the library immediately
- ZEC rose approximately 5% following the announcement, though prices dipped Monday morning with the broader market
- Zakura v1.3.0 already ships with the new stack, with Vizor Wallet among the first to integrate it
Zcash developers have released a new open-source cryptography toolkit called Zakura Common, designed to speed up the creation of private transactions on the Zcash network.
JUST IN: Zcash developers say new cryptography tools could slash private transaction creation times from 3+ seconds to under 200 milliseconds, making shielded ZEC transfers more than 14x faster on mobile. pic.twitter.com/qaQYGsEIq9
— EyeWhales (@EyeWhales) August 31, 2026
Previously, users sending a shielded transaction — one that hides the sender, receiver, and amount — could wait over three seconds while their wallet performed the required cryptographic calculations. With Zakura Common, that wait drops to under 200 milliseconds in some cases.
The library was built by Zakura, the team behind a Zcash full node client launched in July 2025. Zakura is co-founded by Sean Bowe, a longtime zero-knowledge cryptography researcher who has worked on Zcash’s proving systems since before the network launched.
Mobile proof generation is now more than 14 times faster. Desktop performance improved by over five times. Sinsemilla hashing, used in Zcash’s Orchard protocol, saw a 21-fold speed increase. zk-SNARK verification, which underpins Zcash’s privacy model, now runs four to eight times quicker.
“Shielded wallets that use Zakura Common, and full nodes like Zakura itself, all benefit,” Bowe said in a post on X.
What Changes for Users and Wallets
The update does not require any changes to the Zcash protocol itself. Wallet developers can integrate the open-source library today without waiting for a network-wide upgrade or hard fork.
Zakura v1.3.0 already ships with the new stack. Vizor Wallet is among the first third-party wallets to adopt it. Wallets are also expected to sync faster, and full nodes should see quicker transaction checks and fewer orphaned blocks.
The team confirmed the software can already handle the 25-second block times proposed for Zcash’s next major upgrade, known as NU7.
ZEC Price and Market Reaction
Analyst seth_fin posted on X that ZEC was seeing a “nice breakout after ETF news” and suggested it was “on its way to $1000,” pointing to the momentum building around the token.
$ZEC nice breakout after ETF news
On its way to $1000. How high will it go? pic.twitter.com/I8SlUVeyES
— Seth (@seth_fin) August 30, 2026
ZEC rose approximately 5% to near $839 following the Zakura Common release. Prices pulled back slightly on Monday morning alongside a broader market dip.
The Zakura Common release is part of a larger effort called Project Tachyon, which aims to scale Zcash to over 50,000 private transactions per second — comparable to major card networks. The project is also now running on the new cryptography stack.
ZEC was trading near $839 at the time of writing, up roughly 5% on the day before the Monday morning pullback.
