Security engineer Taylor Hornby used an AI model to identify a critical vulnerability in the Zcash cryptocurrency that had remained undetected since 2022. The flaw could have permitted unlimited creation of counterfeit tokens. Hornby has now added Monero to his list of planned audits.
Hornby employed Anthropic’s Opus 4.8 AI model to locate the bug in Zcash’s Orchard privacy pool. The vulnerability dated back to May 2022 and could have allowed an attacker to mint undetectable counterfeit ZEC. He discovered the issue on May 29 while working for the nonprofit Shielded Labs. Shielded Labs disclosed the flaw on Thursday and implemented an emergency fix by June 1. Zcash fell 38 percent in the following 24 hours as concerns spread about possible undetected theft from the shielded pool. Hornby said he reported the bug rather than exploiting it because Zcash developers were “like family” and he could “not live with that kind of betrayal.” He plans to apply for a Zcash coinholder grant to continue his work. Asked on X about other privacy coins, Hornby replied that he will add Monero to his audit queue.
