The Zcash network targets one block every 75 seconds, so a transaction that is mined in the next block gets its first confirmation after about a minute and a quarter on average. Wallets then wait for more confirmations before they let you spend the funds: Zodl uses 10 for incoming ZEC, about 12.5 minutes, and 3 for change, about 3.75 minutes. Exchanges set their own thresholds.
How to read this guide
Every number below comes from a named primary source: ZIP 208 (Final) for the block spacing, ZIP 203 (Final) for transaction expiry, ZIP 315 (Draft) for the recommended wallet policy and the Zodl Help Desk article "When are funds spendable?" (last updated April 7, 2026) for one real wallet. Times are our arithmetic from the 75-second target and change with luck: blocks are found at random.
The block time is a target
ZIP 208 changed the target block spacing to 75 seconds, defined in the protocol specification as PostBlossomPoWTargetSpacing. The Blossom upgrade applied it. Because miners find blocks at random, the real gap between two blocks is sometimes seconds and sometimes several minutes; 75 seconds is the aim for the average. In our reading, a transaction waiting for the next block therefore waits about 75 seconds on average, and the wait for any single transaction can be shorter or much longer. See our mining guide for how blocks are found and the live mining stats for the current block height.
Confirmations and what they cost in time
A transaction has one confirmation when it is in the newest block, two when one more block follows it, and so on. At 75 seconds per block:
| Confirmations | Approximate time |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1.25 minutes |
| 3 | 3.75 minutes |
| 10 | 12.5 minutes |
| 40 (the default expiry window) | 50 minutes |
These are averages of the target, not guarantees. The protocol does not define a number of confirmations at which a Zcash transaction becomes final; each wallet and service sets a policy.
What a real wallet asks for: Zodl
Zodl's Help Desk article "When are funds spendable?" (last updated April 7, 2026) says funds are spendable when they are shielded and have a minimum number of confirmations. Incoming transactions need 10 confirmations, about 12.5 minutes by its own figures, and change from a transaction you made needs 3, about 3.75 minutes. To see what you can spend now, open the Send screen: a line named Spendable appears under the total balance. Our Zodl guide walks through the rest of the app, and the Keystone and Zodl guide covers the hardware route. We did not check the thresholds of other wallets.
What the specifications recommend: ZIP 315
ZIP 315, "Best Practices for Wallet Implementations", has the status Draft, so it is a recommendation rather than a rule. It recommends 10 confirmations for untrusted outputs and 3 for trusted ones, that is outputs of transactions the same wallet created. It adds that wallets should not allow spending outputs with fewer than 3 confirmations, with narrow exceptions such as shielding transparent funds. Its stated reason for 3: reorgs are, anecdotally, usually shorter than three blocks. The Zodl policy above matches this recommendation.
When a pending transaction expires
ZIP 203 (Final) adds an expiry height to transactions: if a transaction is not in a block by then, it can never be mined and the wallet must send it again. The default is 40 blocks from the current height, about 50 minutes at 75 seconds per block, and software can set another value. ZIP 203 also states that UIs and services must never rely on zero-confirmation transactions in Zcash. If a send looks stuck, the steps are in the wallet troubleshooting guide, and the Explorer shows whether the transaction is in a block. Fees also matter: a transaction with a fee too low may stay unmined; see Zcash transaction fees explained.
Shielded, transparent and exchanges
Shielded and transparent transactions are mined by the same blocks, so the block schedule is the same. We found no primary source on how long a wallet needs to build a shielded transaction before sending it, so this guide says nothing about that step. For exchanges, the deposit threshold is the exchange's own policy; we did not verify any current number. The difference between the two address families is explained in shielded vs transparent transactions, and checking a transaction without exposing private data in how to check a shielded transaction.
What may change
NU7 includes proposals that would change block timing; they are undecided and NU7 has not activated, so every number above reflects the rules in force today. Our NU7 guide tracks the proposal and the halving countdown is built on today's schedule.
Sources and method
- ZIP 208, "Shorter Block Target Spacing" (Final): 75-second target spacing; read October 14, 2026.
- ZIP 203, "Transaction Expiry" (Final): default expiry of 40 blocks after Blossom, and the rule about zero-confirmation transactions; read October 14, 2026.
- ZIP 315, "Best Practices for Wallet Implementations" (Draft): recommended confirmation policy 10 and 3; read October 14, 2026.
- Zodl Help Desk, "When are funds spendable?", last updated April 7, 2026 (support.zodl.com).
- The times in the table are our arithmetic from the 75-second target.
New guides first appear in the ZecZcash Telegram channel.