About this Chart

Network REV (Real Economic Value) measures user demand to transact on the Zcash blockchain through the fees paid for transaction execution. Like Bitcoin, Zcash has no out-of-protocol tips or MEV, meaning transaction fees constitute the entire Network REV.

What distinguishes Zcash is its support for both transparent transactions (similar to Bitcoin) and shielded transactions that use advanced cryptography to preserve user privacy. The fee structure must account for both types of operations, as shielded transactions require significantly more computational resources to validate.

Zcash's fee structure underwent a major evolution with the implementation of ZIP 317 in April 2023 (version 5.5.0). Prior to this, fees were calculated based on transaction size in bytes, similar to Bitcoin. The new model introduced a more sophisticated approach where fees are based on the number of operations within a transaction—such as sending funds, receiving funds, or moving value between transparent and shielded pools. Each operation costs 5,000 zatoshis (0.00005 ZEC), with a minimum fee of 10,000 zatoshis for any transaction. This change made fees more predictable and fairly reflected the actual computational work required to process different transaction types. The implementation was progressively strengthened through mid-2023, with version 6.0.0 (September 2023) requiring all transactions to pay these conventional fees, eliminating the previous allowance for discounted transactions.