Zcash is swinging for the fences. The privacy-focused blockchain, which currently processes somewhere between 3 and 20 shielded transactions per second, is building toward a future where it can handle 50,000 TPS, putting it in the same conversation as Visa’s payment network. That’s roughly a 2,500x improvement over current capacity.
The ambition is built on a new node architecture and a series of protocol upgrades that collectively aim to make fully private transactions not just possible at scale, but practical.
Project Tachyon and NU7: the engine room
The scaling push centers on two key initiatives: Project Tachyon and the NU7 network upgrade. Project Tachyon, led by cryptographer Sean Bowe, targets thousands of TPS for shielded transactions, with estimates suggesting up to 10,000 TPS as a near-term milestone before pushing toward the 50,000 figure.
The NU7 testnet launched on May 22, 2026, and early results are encouraging. Block times dropped from 75 seconds to just 25 seconds, a threefold reduction. Shielded TPS doubled on the testnet compared to previous benchmarks, contributing to what the project describes as a potential 300% increase in transaction speed.
