Zano Roadmap Explained: Key Updates, Features and Future Plans Most privacy coin projects publish a whitepaper and go quiet. Zano does the opposite, its roadmap page tracks every feature by s
Most privacy coin projects publish a whitepaper and go quiet. Zano does the opposite, its roadmap page tracks every feature by status and quarter, from research through to mainnet release, updated in real time. This guide breaks down the Zano roadmap exactly as the project itself lays it out, covering what's already live, what's in progress right now, and what's still ahead through 2027.
Key Takeaways
Zano organises its roadmap into three tracks: Core, Apps, and Ecosystem so privacy tech, wallet updates, and ecosystem tools each move on their own timeline.
2026 is the busiest year on the roadmap, with a new mobile wallet, a Hardfork 6 network upgrade, and the public testnet for Zano's own execution layer all scheduled.
The single biggest milestone ahead is Zenith, Zano's full move to pure proof of stake, targeted for mainnet release around Q2 2027.
The Zano roadmap is a public, continuously updated log of every feature the project is building, filterable by status Completed, In Progress, or Planned and by year, all the way from 2019 through to items marked TBA. Instead of a static PDF that goes stale within months, it functions more like a live changelog, which makes it easy to see exactly how a privacy blockchain evolves in practice rather than in promises.
That transparency matters more for a privacy coin than for most other crypto projects. Privacy-tech is genuinely hard to build correctly, so a roadmap that shows research phases, testnets, and audits not just launch dates gives a much clearer picture of whether the underlying blockchain privacy claims are backed by real engineering work.
Source: Official website
Every entry on the roadmap sits in one of three tracks, each covering a different layer of the project:
Track
Covers
Core
The privacy protocol, consensus mechanics, and underlying blockchain infrastructure
Apps
Wallets, browser tools, and anything end users interact with directly
Ecosystem
Exchanges, DEX tooling, aliases, grants, and community infrastructure
Each entry also carries a development stage; R&D, Development, Integration, or Core Upgrade so it's always clear whether something is still being researched or actively being built.
Several major pieces have already landed this year:
Feature
Track
Quarter
Overhauled Zano.org website
Core
Q2 2026
AI-assisted security audit pipeline
Core
Q2 2026
Lite wallet
Apps
Q2 2026
Gateway Addresses
Core
Q2 2026
Pure PoS consensus research: Phase 2
Ecosystem
Q2 2026
Full Chain Membership Proof research
Core
Q2 2026
Zano Forum
Ecosystem
Q3 2026
The Lite wallet now connects to a remote node so users no longer need to sync the entire blockchain, while Gateway Addresses improved instant sync and cross-chain compatibility with bridges, DEXes, and exchanges. The AI-assisted security audit pipeline continuously scans the Zano codebase and pull requests for potential issues before human review and the completed FCMP and Phase 2 consensus research feed directly into Zenith, covered further down.
The rest of 2026 stays dense with active development:
Feature
Status
Quarter
Native ZANO on Confidential Layer bridge
In progress
Q2 2026
Hardfork 6 launch
In progress
Q3 2026
Zano Execution Layer: public testnet
In progress
Q3 2026
Alias marketplace
Planned
Q3 2026
DEX integrations research
Planned
Q3 2026
New mobile wallet app
In progress
Q4 2026
Zano Execution Layer: mainnet release
Planned
Q4 2026
Zenith: testnet implementation
Planned
Q4 2026
P2P networking privacy upgrade
Planned
Q4 2026
Source: Official whitepaper
A few of these are worth a closer look. Hardfork 6 is a major network upgrade adding Gateway Addresses, strengthened consensus, refined decoy selection, and more uniform transactions. The Zano Execution Layer brings an EVM sidechain into the picture standard Solidity contracts run unmodified with bridged ZANO as gas, while Zano's Layer 1 stays focused purely on privacy. And the P2P networking privacy-upgrade improves peer obfuscation and resistance to traffic analysis at the network layer itself.
Looking further out, one milestone anchors the entire roadmap:
Milestone
Status
Target
Zenith: mainnet release
Planned
Q2 2027
Zenith marks Zano's transition from its current hybrid Proof-of-Work/Proof-of-Stake model to a pure proof-of-stake consensus, designed in partnership with Common Prefix and built on the privacy foundations already established by the Zarcanum protocol. Everything scheduled through late 2026 the design work, the testnet, the supporting P2P privacy upgrade builds directly toward this single release.
Not everything on the roadmap has a quarter attached yet. A few confirmed priorities sit under a "TBA" tag:
Feature
Track
Hardware wallet support
Apps
Dynamic fee implementation
Core
Multisig protocol
Core
Premium alias auction
Ecosystem
Zano Grants program
Ecosystem
Source: official ZANO documentation
Listing these openly, rather than dropping them once a deadline is missed, says a lot about how the team approaches its own long-term Zano future.
A detailed, quarter-by-quarter roadmap is unusual in the privacy coin space, where many projects rely on reputation alone. By showing research phases like the pure PoS consensus work moving through Phase 1, Phase 2, and now into Zenith's testnet stage, Zano makes it possible to actually verify progress instead of taking development claims on faith. For anyone evaluating blockchain privacy projects, that kind of visible, staged execution is a far stronger signal than a marketing page.
The Zano roadmap makes one thing clear: 2026 is about infrastructure wallets, bridges, the execution layer, and network upgrades while 2027 is about consensus itself, with Zenith's mainnet release marking the project's biggest structural shift yet. Anyone following Zano's future plans closely should keep an eye on the Q3 and Q4 2026 milestones first, since each one feeds directly into the pure proof-of-stake transition scheduled for Q2 2027.
This article is based on Zano's official roadmap page and is intended for informational purposes only. Timelines marked "Estimate" or "TBA" are subject to change. Always check zano.org/roadmap for the latest status.
