R I P Reincarnation Insurance Program

Key Takeaways:

• The teams behind Zcash have decided to aim for the November 5, 2026 target date for NU7 activation on the mainnet.
• NU7 will reduce the target block from 75 seconds to 25 seconds.
• The upgrade will ensure that the issuance of ZEC halvings continue and incorporate the Network Sustainability Mechanism.

The developers and engineering teams come to a consensus regarding the next significant upgrade to Zcash in the NU7 package and schedule for network upgrades. The upgrade is expected to introduce quicker block production, modifications to transaction compatibility and emerging strategies that look into network sustainability.

NU7 Sets a 25-Second Block Target

According to Zcash developer Sean Bowe and the Zcash Community Forum, NU7 is scheduled to reach the official testnet on October 6, followed by a targeted mainnet activation on November 5. A final decision on the mainnet activation height is scheduled for October 20, after the ecosystem has reviewed how NU7 performs on testnet.

NU7 is coming! All of the Zcash development orgs have come to unanimous agreement about the contents and timeline of our next network upgrade, following the sentiment collection results earlier this week.

Activation approximately November 5.

Learn more:https://t.co/3pSKptV9gO

— Sean Bowe (@ebfull) September 17, 2026

The most impactful technical change is the change in block spacing from 75 seconds to 25 seconds with the passing of ZIP-218.

That threefold reduction is proposed to reduce the transaction confirmation latency. The ZIP suggests the reduced interval will lead to a better experience for transactions that require one or two confirmations, as well as to an increase in the bandwidth of consensus.

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Faster Blocks Bring Infrastructure Changes

This isn’t just going to be a matter of the timers, the faster block schedule will be applied to the encryption of blocks. Zcash developers also have proposed the necessary changes in the network parameters to ensure similar time-based behavior post-NU7.

For example, the proposal ZIP-218 suggests increasing the proof-of-work goldrush window from 17 to 102 blocks. The number of blocks increases but the smoothing time remains close to the wall clock time wanted.

This upgrade might need a bit of help from the full nodes, indexers and block explorers too. Ordinary wallets would not see major modifications as NU7 does not work with new types of transactions, developers said.

Zcash Keeps the Halving Schedule

Furthermore, based on the newest community sentiment results, there will be some changes on Network Sustainability Mechanism for Zcash on NU7.

In this direction, the existing ZEC halving structure is maintained, and the previously stopped issuance will return in February 2031. The network upgrade will also be removing transaction version 4.

The decision was based on talks with several organizations and engineering teams within the Zcash ecosystem, such as the Zcash Foundation, Tachyon, Valar, ZODL, and Shielded Labs.

The community sentiment collection took place earlier this September. The reported results demonstrated that the 25 seconds blocks and keeping the halving schedule were supported.

NU7 Timeline Moves Into Testing

The features are planned to be implemented and available on the testnet by September 30, which is the deadline for this release.

The next one is on October 6, with the official Zcash testnet that will activate NU7. The developers will then gain experience on the testnet and then decide on the final mainnet activation on October 20.

With the current timeline, NU7 will activate on the Zcash mainnet on November 5, 2026.

Read More: Polygon Marks 6 Years on Mainnet as Network Surpasses $2.5 Trillion in Value Moved

The number of US service members who have died while deployed in the Middle East since the start of the Iran war is higher than the Pentagon’s public tally, the Washington Post reported on Friday, citing military sources. The Pentagon’s public casualty database may be missing as many as five military fatalities, according to the report.

As of Friday, the Pentagon’s Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) listed 18 US military fatalities, including deaths from hostile and non-hostile action since the Iran war began on February 28.

Five sources, however, told the outlet there have been at least 22 military fatalities, while a sixth put the toll even higher, saying 23 service members have died since the war began. Not all of the additional deaths were directly tied to the conflict, the official said, but involved US personnel stationed in the Middle East amid the ongoing hostilities. Three US contractors based in the region have also died since combat operations began, the official added.

It is unclear whether the discrepancy was intended to downplay the war’s toll or stemmed from administrative procedures for classifying military deaths.

The US administration’s casualty accounting already faced scrutiny in July, when the Pentagon briefly removed four Iran war deaths from its public tally during a since-failed ceasefire – three troops killed in an Iranian missile strike on a US base in Jordan and another killed the next day during a controlled detonation of an Iranian drone in Iraq. The Pentagon blamed a data-processing error after the removals drew congressional scrutiny. The deaths later reappeared alongside some 207 wounded personnel, but under “Overseas Contingency Operations” rather than Operation Epic Fury, the administration’s name for the Iran war.

Separately, the Pentagon said two US service members have died in the Middle East since February on missions unrelated to the war. Sgt. Devin Seibel was killed in a training accident in Irbil, Iraq, on May 31, while Maj. Sorffly Davius died after an unspecified medical emergency in Kuwait on March 6. Neither is named in DCAS, despite dying at bases attacked by Iranian forces.

The Washington Post said the Pentagon declined to address its questions about the discrepancies.

Commenting on the report on X, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth vehemently denied its authenticity, calling it “a complete LIE.”

“This is DISGUSTING and FAKE… Shame on the Washington Post – they’re worse than Iranian state media,” he wrote.

An increasingly unpopular war

Despite US President Donald Trump insisting the war has been a success – even claiming at times that “Americans aren’t against the war” – polling indicates growing public opposition. A September Reuters/Ipsos poll found 28% support Trump’s approach to Iran, while 62% disapprove.

The war has also deepened divisions in Congress ahead of the November midterms. Congressional Democrats have overwhelmingly opposed the conflict, making its multibillion-dollar cost and economic fallout – including gasoline prices approaching $5 a gallon – campaign issues. They have also pledged to investigate the Pentagon’s handling of casualty notifications if they retake the majority.

While most House Republicans have voted to block anti-war resolutions, some GOP lawmakers have broken ranks, backing bipartisan efforts to invoke war-powers restrictions or halt funding for the conflict. Representative Thomas Massie (KY) also moved this week to force a House vote on impeaching Hegseth, alleging he violated the War Powers Resolution of 1973 by pursuing hostilities without congressional authorization.

The war has cost the US $43.6 billion through September 3, including $28.1 billion in munitions expended, according to CENTCOM figures shared with lawmakers and the media on Friday. The total excludes extensive damage to US bases across eight Middle Eastern countries. Senior military officials reportedly warned Hegseth last month that prolonged large-scale operations against Iran were unsustainable.

Trump, however, insists the war will end soon, telling reporters last week it would likely stop immediately after the midterms. He told Axios on Thursday that he faces “a big decision” over whether to restart major combat operations to end the conflict.

Iran, meanwhile, has refused to cave to Trump’s threats, with Parliament Speaker and top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warning earlier this month of “faster, heavier and more painful” retaliation against further US aggression. On Friday, Tehran showcased a new volunteer force that will receive limited military and emergency training to support the IRGC. IRGC chief Hassan Hassanzadeh told state broadcaster IRIB that over 600,000 people had registered, with more than one million expected to undergo training.

21shares Ties XRP Demand to Fees, Reserves, and Bridge Use

XRP demand could eventually rise as tokenized assets and stablecoins expand on XRPL, according to a thesis 21shares shared on Sept. 14. The asset manager’s post on X pointed to $4 billion in tokenized assets and about $1.6 billion in total RLUSD supply, with more than half circulating on the XRP Ledger. 21shares stated:

“Our thesis is that more activity eventually lifts demand for it, not that it’s denominated in it.”

The Sept. 14 X statement builds on an analysis published by 21shares on Aug. 12 by Maximiliaan Michielsen, an investment strategist at the crypto asset manager. The analysis described XRP as a bridge asset that payment providers can convert into and out of destination currencies, with settlement in three to five seconds and transaction costs of roughly $0.0002.

Every XRPL transaction burns a small amount of XRP through an anti-spam mechanism that protects the network from flooding. The base fee is 0.00001 XRP, and more than 14 million XRP has been burned since 2012, according to the analysis. That total equals about 0.014% of the original 100 billion supply, showing how crypto assets can provide network utility beyond transfers without creating a significant scarcity effect.

Stablecoins and Tokenized Assets Broaden XRPL Activity

Stablecoins are becoming a larger component of XRP Ledger activity, led by Ripple USD (RLUSD), which 21shares said had about $1.6 billion in total supply. More than half of RLUSD’s total supply was circulating on XRPL by mid-2026, marking a shift from its earlier concentration on Ethereum.

Rising RLUSD use has coincided with higher network activity. RLUSD-related transactions on XRPL rose from about 54,000 in December 2024 to between 600,000 and 1.1 million per month during 2026, according to Evernorth data. The RLUSD/XRP pair processed roughly $900 million during the six months through June.

Tokenization represents another source of growth. 21shares estimates that tokenized assets on XRPL have reached around $4 billion. The ledger’s Multi-Purpose Token standard provides institutions with infrastructure for issuing bonds, funds, and other tokenized assets, with compliance requirements incorporated into each token’s structure.

That development follows a broader push to extend XRP Ledger utility into tokenized securities, funds, and loans. Ripple CTO Emeritus David Schwartz has identified tokenized stocks, money market funds, repos, and lending as areas where XRPL infrastructure could support financial activity beyond basic transfers.

DeFi Growth Adds Another Route for Network Usage

The XRP Ledger also includes a decentralized exchange at the protocol level, allowing issued assets to trade directly against other assets without requiring a separate exchange application. XRP can serve as an intermediary pair, connecting markets where a direct trading pair lacks sufficient liquidity.

DeFi remains comparatively small, with 21shares placing the sector at more than $30 million on XRPL, but new lending infrastructure is under development. Ripple, Clearpool, and Cicada Partners are building an institutional lending market that would use RLUSD as the credit asset and XRPL’s proposed Lending Protocol and Single Asset Vault architecture.

The distinction between XRPL growth and direct XRP usage remains central to the investment thesis. Tokenized bonds, stablecoins, and other issued assets can exist and trade on the ledger without being denominated in XRP. XRP’s direct role comes through transaction fees, account reserves, bridge liquidity, and situations where it serves as an intermediary asset.

21shares therefore frames greater XRPL activity as a potential source of XRP demand rather than a direct one-for-one relationship. The firm estimates that the network averaged around 1.7 million transactions per day and approximately $1.3 billion in on-chain value per day over the past year, putting total settlement activity near half a trillion dollars.

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