Updated Sep 29, 2026, 8:13 a.m. EDT. Published Sep 29, 2026, 7:15 a.m. EDT.
2 min read
Summary
- Zcash engineers have launched Udon, a module that integrates elements of the proposed Tachyon scaling framework into Zakura Common, the software utilized for generating and validating private transactions.
- Although prior enhancements to Common reduced private-transaction generation durations from upwards of three seconds to below 200 milliseconds during specific tests, Tachyon seeks to minimize the network burden as adoption scales.
- Udon marks the initiation of this integration rather than a demonstration of Tachyon-level speeds, meaning the prospective upgrade still demands additional programming and security audits prior to any deployment.
The engineering teams supporting the privacy-centric cryptocurrency Zcash are incorporating a section of their planned scaling enhancement into existing network libraries, preparing for an ecosystem with significantly higher volumes of shielded transactions.
That specific element is Udon, a novel module originally designed as part of Project Tachyon, which is Zcash’s proposed scaling architecture.
On Monday, Udon was deployed into Zakura Common, a shared cryptographic toolkit utilized by Zakura alongside other Zcash initiatives, according to Project Tachyon director Sean Bowe. Users can visualize Common as software responsible for executing intensive mathematical computations required to formulate and verify private transactions. Bowe’s staff collaborates with Dev Ojha’s Valar Group on the joint development of Zakura.
A Zcash wallet must demonstrate the validity of a confidential transfer without disclosing either the sender, recipient, or transfer amount. Network nodes subsequently verify the authenticity of this cryptographic proof.
Past upgrades to Common decreased the duration needed to generate a proof from exceeding three seconds to under 200 milliseconds across select evaluations, as CoinDesk reported in August.
Should private transfers experience widespread adoption, these validating nodes will face substantially heavier data volumes.
Udon integrates several mathematical calculations essential for the proposed Tachyon scaling initiative directly into Common, enabling developers to expand upon pre-existing performance optimizations. Udon has been published purely as a software package; the broader upgrade has not yet been activated on the Zcash network.
Bowe and Ojha have established an ambitious long-term objective exceeding 50,000 transactions per second. At that throughput level, they calculate that contemporary cryptographic mechanisms would compel every Zcash node to ingest more than 500 megabytes of data every single second.
Tachyon aims to aggregate proofs across numerous transfers so that validating nodes receive and inspect considerably less data. Zcash nodes will perform less verification work if multiple transactions can reference a single consolidated proof. Because generating such proofs demands greater memory capacity, Bowe’s group is constructing it using optimized code previously engineered within Common.
Consequently, Zcash remains distant from achieving that transaction volume as of Tuesday. ZecStats figures indicate that the network handled a daily average of roughly 11,700 shielded transactions during the seven-day window concluding on September 21, translating to approximately one transfer every seven seconds. That daily average dropped to approximately 6,200 transactions during the subsequent seven-day period ending on September 28.
Originally published at https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/09/29/zcash-s-faster-private-payment-code-is-being-rebuilt-for-its-bigger-scaling-plan.
