The Zcash Community Grants committee has withdrawn a proposal to redirect approximately 98,000 ZEC toward future mining rewards, less than a week after introducing the idea. The decision, announced in a community forum post, returns the question of development funding to Zcash’s standard governance process.

ZCG, a five-member body that awards grants for developers and community projects, receives 8 percent of all newly created ZEC. That allocation amounts to roughly 144 coins each day. Its treasury had grown to about 91,500 ZEC, prompting questions from developers and coin holders about the continuing automatic inflows and the committee’s spending choices.

Details of the Abandoned Proposal

The plan, first outlined on October 29, called for transferring 36,200 ZEC from the committee’s existing holdings into the Network Sustainability Mechanism. That reserve holds coins outside circulating supply and later releases them to support miner block rewards as subsidies decline. The proposal would also have reduced ZCG’s projected income through the 2028 halving from about 109,000 ZEC to 47,000 ZEC, with further tapering toward 2032. Combined, the treasury transfer and the cut in future receipts totaled roughly 98,000 ZEC.

In its statement, the committee said it would not advance the proposal. Future decisions on the development fund and the remaining treasury should follow Zcash’s usual governance process, it added. Until a network upgrade changes the rules, ZCG continues to collect its daily allocation of about 144 ZEC.

Background of Growing Scrutiny

Criticism of ZCG intensified after a funded outreach project known as ZECsy promoted private payments at an adult-industry convention in New Jersey in late October. Some community members questioned the committee’s priorities and accountability. Others argued that sex workers, who often face banking restrictions, represent a group that privacy-focused tools should serve.

Zcash co-founder Sean Bowe had earlier proposed ending the committee’s automatic funding stream entirely, noting that the existing treasury could support operations for years. He later joined Zcash founder Zooko Wilcox in backing a separate draft proposal. That plan would require ZCG to contribute 50,000 ZEC to the Network Sustainability Mechanism within 30 days of acceptance and redirect the committee’s future 8 percent share into a new development and legal-defense fund. The existing grants committee could continue making awards from remaining reserves.

A third proposal from developer Daira-Emma Hopwood would retain the 8 percent allocation but refocus grants more tightly on increasing ZEC adoption. None of the competing plans has been adopted.

Current Status and Market Context

With ZCG’s own plan withdrawn, the automatic 8 percent payment continues unchanged. Zcash already operates a separate coinholder-controlled funding program that receives 12 percent of block rewards. In its most recent round, holders approved $8.39 million across 17 projects covering security research, protocol work and related efforts. The next proposal window for that program runs through mid-November, with voting scheduled later in December.

At the time of the withdrawal announcement, ZEC was trading near $1,310, up more than 12 percent over the prior 24 hours. At that level, the 98,000 ZEC figure under discussion carried a notional value of roughly $128.7 million. The committee’s existing treasury of about 91,500 ZEC remains available for grant awards while the broader funding debate continues through community governance channels.