Zcash launches Zakura full node, aiming to boost its privacy transaction throughput to 50,000 per second.

Zcash has launched its new full-node client Zakura 1.0.0, the first implementation component aimed at scaling its private transaction throughput from the current ~1 transaction per second (TPS) to payment-network-level capacity. Maintained by Sean Bowe, an early Zcash zero-knowledge cryptography contributor, and Dev Ojha, head of Valar Group, the client operates independently of the Zcash Foundation and is funded via private ZEC donations. Built on the Zcash Foundation’s Zebra client, the team provides an ~11GB blockchain snapshot, allowing new nodes to sync up in two minutes—an approximately 680x speed improvement. Its compatibility mode also replicates the legacy zcashd interface, enabling wallets and exchanges to continue operating after the original client’s maintenance ends on July 18. The team notes that Visa and Mastercard process over 50,000 transactions per second, a benchmark it has set as its minimum target. To reduce the verification burden of large-scale private transactions, Bowe’s Tachyon project is developing recursive proofs, which let nodes validate thousands of proofs with a single proof. Valar Group is building private information retrieval (PIR) technology, allowing wallets to access relevant transaction data without exposing their query content. Zakura is also testing a fast block propagation system that delivers new blocks to all nodes in half a second. Its upcoming testnet is the Ironwood upgrade, set to activate on the mainnet on July 28. Ironwood will use a "rotating door" mechanism to restrict inflows and outflows of the Orchard privacy pool, mitigating risks of fake ZEC entering circulation due to prior zero-knowledge proof vulnerabilities.