Zcash Network Upgrade 6.1 (NU6.1) has officially landed — and we’re pleased to share that our RPC infrastructure is already fully updated and ready to support it.
This update includes key changes to how Zcash handles development funding, improves wallet-related RPC responses, and updates default transaction formats. Here’s a look at what’s new and why it matters.
Why This Upgrade Matters
Zcash Network Upgrade 6.1 is more than just a technical update — it’s a meaningful step forward in how Zcash evolves as a decentralized, community-driven project.
- Stronger Governance Foundations: With ZIP 271 and ZIP 1016, Zcash is laying the groundwork for more transparent and accountable development funding. These changes give more voice to the community and coinholders — a shift toward more decentralized governance.
- Improved Developer and Wallet Experience: Accurate balance reporting, especially for shielded transactions, is critical for anyone building with Zcash. Fixing the Orchard bug removes a major source of confusion and inconsistency in RPC data.
- Future-Proofing the Network: By moving to transaction version 5 by default, Zcash continues its transition to more modern and extensible transaction formats that support new features, better security, and smoother integration with wallets and services.
In other words, this upgrade reflects Zcash’s long-term vision: combining strong privacy guarantees with sustainable, community-driven innovation.
What’s New in NU6.1
Zcash Network Upgrade 6.1 introduces several protocol and consensus-level changes designed to improve the sustainability and transparency of the Zcash ecosystem.
ZIP 271: Deferred Dev Fund Lockbox Disbursement
With this change, the network defers and structures the disbursement of development funds, improving both security and oversight.
ZIP 1016: Community and Coinholder Funding Model
A first step toward a more community-driven funding process. This ZIP gives coinholders and community members more influence over how the network allocates development resources.
Orchard Bug Fix: Better RPC Balance Reporting
This upgrade also includes a fix for an important bug affecting balance accuracy in RPC calls.
Previously, some transactions involving unshielding of Orchard notes were not properly reflected in transparent balance-related RPC methods like getbalance and gettransaction. This was due to legacy logic not accounting for the Orchard pool correctly.
That issue is now resolved. RPC responses now:
- Correctly include Orchard-related unshielding transactions
- Report accurate balances and fees
- Provide more reliable data for wallet integrations
Moreover, a similar issue involving Sprout and Sapling was resolved in version 4.5.1.
Updated Transaction Format Defaults
Another important change in NU6.1 is the update to the default transaction version used by nodes.
- Previous default:
-preferredtxversion=4(introduced in Sapling, 2018) - New default:
-preferredtxversion=5(introduced in NU5, 2022)
If you need to maintain compatibility with v4 transactions, you can override this by setting:
-preferredtxversion=4
We’re Already Running NU6.1
Our ZEC testnet RPC infrastructure has been fully upgraded to support all changes introduced in NU6.1. That means you can start building, testing, and deploying on top of the latest protocol version today.
This includes:
- Full support for the updated consensus rules
- Accurate handling of transparent and shielded balances (including Orchard)
- Support for v5 transactions by default
