Zecnero
Roadmap

From spec to mainnet.

The Zecnero (ZMR) roadmap. The public testnet has been live since September 24, 2026, with two seed nodes, a block explorer, signed releases of the node and the miner, and a testnet wallet. Mainnet has not launched. Nothing still to come has a date, and none is implied by the order. Work happens in the open on GitLab.

Legend
Done
Next
Before mainnet

  1. Done

    Finished and in use on the public testnet.

  2. Spec / 2026.0.3-draftDone

    Protocol specification

    The consensus rules are written down as a set of changes to the Zcash protocol specification at NU6: proof of work, difficulty, issuance, the founder stream, network identity and chain selection. It is a draft, and several Mainnet parameters in it are still undecided.

  3. M0Done

    Fork and baseline

    Zebra pinned to release v6.3.0, built, and its test suite run once to establish a baseline before any consensus change.

  4. M1Done

    Chain identity

    Network magic, ports, consensus branch identifier, address encodings and activation heights. Zcash funding streams and the development fund lockbox are removed, Sprout is made unreachable, and only version 5 transactions are accepted.

  5. M2Done

    Proof of work

    RandomX with the Zecnero salt, the 140-byte header input, the block hash kept separate from the proof-of-work hash, and the key schedule that rotates every 2,048 blocks.

  6. TestnetDone

    Testnet live since September 24, 2026

    The testnet runs the rules of the specification: RandomX, aserti3-2d difficulty anchored at genesis, the halving schedule, the founder stream paid by every block, and the 20-block limit on reorganisation. Its genesis block commits to a recent Bitcoin block. Testnet coins have no value.

  7. NetworkDone

    Two seed nodes

    seed1.zecnero.org and seed2.zecnero.org answer on the testnet port 18733, and are compiled into the node as its default testnet peers.

  8. ExplorerDone

    Block explorer

    Blocks and transactions of the testnet, at explorer.zecnero.org.

  9. ReleasesDone

    Signed downloads

    The node, the bridge, the miner and the key tool are published at downloads.zecnero.org with a SHA256SUMS file signed by the Zecnero release key, and a build record of the commits they came from. The mining guide shows how to check them.

  10. MiningDone

    Testnet pool

    The official testnet pool, pool.zecnero.org, open since September 26, 2026: PPLNS, balances of 0.5 ZMR or more paid once a block has 100 confirmations, a page for every miner and a public API. The one-command installer mines on it by default. See the announcement.

  11. TestnetDone

    Testnet faucet

    Small amounts of testnet ZMR at faucet.zecnero.org, once a day per address, for people who want to try the wallet without mining first.

  12. TransactionsDone

    First transparent and Sapling transactions

    Mined coins were shielded, sent between wallets with transparent and Sapling addresses, sent with a memo, and restored from a seed on the live testnet, with every balance exact.

  13. Wallet 0.2.xDone

    Testnet wallet

    A command-line wallet for Linux and Windows and a desktop wallet for Windows. Transparent and Sapling addresses, shielding mined coins, memos, rescans and restore from a 24-word seed. See Wallets.

  14. ExplorerNext

    Explorer API

    A documented, read-only interface to the data the explorer already shows, for wallets, pools and other tools.

  15. DifficultyNext

    Difficulty half-life: one hour

    Difficulty follows aserti3-2d. The testnet started with a half-life of 7,200 seconds, and its first week showed that this reacts too slowly when a large miner leaves a small chain. The network upgrade NU1 halves it to 3,600 seconds and re-anchors the schedule, so difficulty carries on without a jump. Mainnet has NU1 from its first block; the testnet switches at its network upgrade.

  16. Proof of workNext

    RandomX program version

    Zecnero uses RandomX with its own salt for proof of work, so general-purpose processors are the most efficient hardware for it. Upstream RandomX has added version 2 changes. The testnet moves to RandomX v2 with the same salt, rx/zecnero2, at its network upgrade NU2, and the program version Mainnet runs is being finalized on the testnet.

  17. Before mainnet

    These have to be finished before a Mainnet genesis block is made.

  18. OrchardBefore mainnet

    Orchard-only Mainnet

    Mainnet has one shielded pool, Orchard. From block 1 no Mainnet transaction, coinbase included, may have a Sapling spend or output, and a Mainnet unified address carries an Orchard receiver only. Mining rewards still arrive at a transparent address and are shielded into Orchard before they can be spent. Before Mainnet the node enforces the rule, and the wallet, the official pool and the miner helper move to Orchard. The testnet becomes Orchard only at its network upgrade NU2, expected on Sunday, November 8, 2026, at a height announced with the release.

  19. Founder streamBefore mainnet

    Founder multisig published

    The founder stream pays a 2-of-3 multisig (P2SH) script, and Kaito holds all three keys. The Mainnet script and its address are published before launch, together with the addresses the founder will mine from.

  20. HardeningBefore mainnet

    Review, fuzzing and checkpoints

    A review pass over every consensus change made for Zecnero, fuzzing of the header and proof-of-work parsing, and the tooling to produce the Mainnet checkpoints that each release carries.

  21. GenesisNot scheduled

    Mainnet genesis

    The genesis block commits to a recent Bitcoin block, which bounds how early any Zecnero block could have been produced. From that moment anyone may mine, and no height is reserved for anyone. The launch happens only after the public testnet has run with independent miners.