Cryptocurrency exchange Gemini (GEMI) has transitioned the underlying software powering its Zcash operations ahead of an impending upgrade designed to shorten new block intervals—the transaction bundles appended to the network—from 75 seconds down to 25 seconds.
The platform currently relies on Zakura, an application that monitors Zcash and tracks its ledger history. Gemini announced Tuesday that Zakura successfully synchronized with the latest block in just over six hours throughout its deployment phases, whereas Zebra, the software utilized previously, required nearly an entire day.
That six-hour metric evaluates how rapidly a machine can catch up after a fresh startup or after falling behind. Developers of Zakura released an independent test demonstrating a duration of four hours and 20 minutes, compared to nearly 21 hours for Zebra.
They additionally supply an archived snapshot of recent network state data enabling a replacement machine to come online without downloading the entire Zcash transaction history from scratch. During their evaluations, that technique proved roughly 680 times faster than a standard synchronization.
Gemini is managed by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, whose investments in Zcash extend well past the exchange itself.
Their venture firm spearheaded a $59 million financing round for Cypherpunk Technologies, a publicly listed enterprise that owns and mines ZEC. A Winklevoss-affiliated entity sold Cypherpunk a Zcash mining operation for $33 million in August, and Cypherpunk reports that Gemini manages trading and custody services for its ZEC reserves.
Read More: A Winklevoss-backed Zcash mining bet is on track to hit $125 million a year
Why it matters for traders
Every digital asset exchange listing a cryptocurrency operates an independent node tracking that specific network. Transmitting ZEC to Gemini does not render it available for immediate trading because that node must first locate the transfer on Zcash and authenticate it before crediting the user balance.
Should the node crash or fall behind, tokens may arrive while the user’s wallet reflects zero, causing exchanges to temporarily halt deposits and withdrawals for that asset until synchronization completes. The duration of that suspension relies heavily on how fast a backup node can reconstruct its ledger copy.
The upcoming Zcash network upgrade, designated as NU7, will reduce block times from 75 seconds to 25 seconds, obligating network-monitoring nodes to receive and validate new batches three times as frequently. Developers have slated November 5 for the implementation.
Gemini has not yet released benchmark performance tests showing how the updated infrastructure handles the accelerated NU7 block timeline. NU7 is scheduled to deploy on the Zcash testnet on October 6, and core contributors intend to finalize the November 5 mainnet rollout after reviewing those testnet metrics.
Originally published at https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/09/30/winklevoss-owned-gemini-switches-zcash-software-ahead-of-faster-25-second-blocks.
