Zcash rallies 12% as developers finalize NU7 activation height

Oct 21, 2026, 4:10 a.m. EDT2 min readZcash's NU7 upgrade will speed transactions by a factor of three. (Shutterstock)SummaryZcash developers agreed to activate the NU7 upgrade at block 3,543,405, expected to be around Nov. 5, though the proposal still requires final integration into deployment and node software. The new version will cut block times to 25 seconds from 75 seconds, potentially reducing the wait for three transaction confirmations from nearly four minutes to about 75 seconds. The upgrade will temporarily remove 60% of block fees from circulation and disable Zcash’s original Sprout privacy system, making any funds left there unspendable. Zcash is a step closer to confirming a change that would speed payments on the privacy-focused blockchain by a factor of three after developers settled on the exact block at which the upgrade, known as NU7, would switch on. Zcash developer Sean Bowe filed a proposal on Tuesday to set activation at block 3,543,405, a height agreed at a meeting of Zcash Improvement Proposal (ZIP) editors, the group that signs off on changes to the blockchain’s rules.

Oct 21, 2026, 7:00 a.m. EDT5 min readComptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould (Nikhilesh De/CoinDesk)SummaryThe U. S. agency that regulates national banks and trusts has issued the first final rule putting the GENIUS Act into place in January, though a number of other regulators are still working on other parts of the implementation. The section on stablecoin yield doesn't offer a lot of detail on what activity may fall under the law's wide prohibition of such yield from issuers, but the crypto industry has already interpreted GENIUS to permit the rewards programs that have become commonplace with stablecoin activity on exchanges. The final rule states that pre-existing rewards programs won't get special treatment as the OCC assesses which ones pass regulatory muster. U. S. crypto exchanges that have long been giving people rewards for usings stablecoins will have to get the agency to sign off on those existing programs, according to the U. S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the first federal banking regulator to issue a final rule under the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U. S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act. The OCC, which oversees U. S.

AT&T’s fiber business was the star of the show in Wednesday’s third-quarter earnings report.

Decentralized exchange PancakeSwap’s total value locked (TVL) grew nearly 19% over the past week, adding about $380 million as the protocol moves toward a major overhaul of how it distributes trading fees to liquidity providers. According to DefiLlama, PancakeSwap’s TVL climbed to $2.4 billion on Wednesday, up from about $2.02 billion on Oct. 14. The increase was concentrated in its V3 liquidity pools, where TVL more than doubled to about $739 million from $336 million over the same period. The growth coincided with PancakeSwap opening a governance vote on a proposal called “The Flip,” which would increase liquidity providers’ share of swap fees on V3 and Infinity pools to 88%, up from 66%-68% on most pools. The proposal would also gradually reduce daily CAKE token emissions by approximately 69%, from 22,500 to 7,000 tokens. Voting opened on Wednesday, Oct. 21, and will run until Oct. 24, with implementation expected to begin in November if approved.

Open this photo in gallery:People walk past an AT&T store in Chicago, Ill., in 2018. The company added 379,000 net monthly bill-paying wireless subscribers in its third quarter. Jonathan Weiss/JetCity Image/iStockPhoto / Getty ImagesAT&T T-N raised its annual adjusted profit forecast on Wednesday after beating quarterly revenue and profit estimates, betting on its service bundles to drive growth and help prevent customers from switching to rivals. About 43 per cent of households signing up for AT&T’s internet services also opt for its wireless plans, helping the company build stickier customer relationships and reduce disconnects as competition intensifies in the U. S. telecom market. AT&T added 379,000 net monthly bill-paying wireless subscribers during the third quarter, largely in line with the 379,300 additions estimated by FactSet. The company now expects annual adjusted profit per share of about US$2.40, compared with its prior forecast of US$2.25 to US$2.35. CPPIB forms joint venture with AT&T, BlackRock’s GIP to expand fibre-optic networkU. S.

France wants cryptocurrency platforms to face liability for certain decentralized finance (DeFi) incidents if they fail to vet protocols or ignore known security risks. French authorities published proposals Wednesday to revise the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). The joint response to a European Commission consultation came from France’s Treasury, the Financial Markets Authority (AMF), the central bank and the Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority (ACPR). “CASPs [crypto-asset service providers] should be liable for certain incidents affecting clients where they actively facilitated access,” French authorities said. MiCA excludes crypto services provided in a fully decentralized manner without intermediaries. France’s proposal would extend investor safeguards by imposing new duties on regulated platforms that connect customers to DeFi protocols. The Commission is reviewing whether MiCA needs updating as crypto markets develop. Its consultation sought views on activities outside the law’s original scope, including DeFi. The responses will inform a report to EU lawmakers due by June 30, 2027, which could include proposals to amend the law.