For several days, a thick doubt hovered over Zcash like a dormant malware. A vulnerability discovered in its privacy infrastructure had awakened the old demons of crypto investors. However, t
For several days, a thick doubt hovered over Zcash like a dormant malware. A vulnerability discovered in its privacy infrastructure had awakened the old demons of crypto investors. However, the mood radically changes after this new examination. An audit requested by Shielded Labs and performed by Anthropic’s Claude Mythos artificial intelligence found no other major flaw in the protocol.
The matter dates back to the end of May this year. An independent researcher, Taylor Hornby, discovered a vulnerability several years old in Orchard. With the help of Claude Opus 4.8, he identified a flaw serious enough to trigger an emergency response from the network.
Developers then temporarily suspend Orchard transactions before deploying a corrective update.
According to the Zcash Foundation, no exploitation has been detected so far on the main network. No ZEC was illegally created and user privacy remained perfectly intact.
Zooko Wilcox himself acknowledged the potential severity of the encountered issue.
The vulnerability could have been exploited to create an unlimited amount of counterfeit ZEC in Orchard undetectably.
Source: Zooko Wilcox – X
Once the patch was successfully applied, Shielded Labs requested a new, thorough and complete audit. This time, the goal resembled more of a post-operative check than an emergency surgery on a vital organ.
The result of this audit is now the real information for the markets. Claude Mythos, Anthropic’s new model specialized in searching for complex vulnerabilities, detected no other serious flaw in the Zcash protocol.
On X, Zooko Wilcox thanked Anthropic for its contribution to network security and user protection. He also confirmed that security reinforcement work was continuing quietly, without any dangerous rush.
The stakes far exceed the scope of the Zcash project alone. The crypto industry is now observing a new generation of tools capable of examining millions of lines of code at an almost unreal speed and surgical precision.
Anthropic even claims that Mythos identified more than 10,000 critical vulnerabilities in software considered strategic for the global digital infrastructure.
This evolution resembles a chess game accelerated by a particularly powerful quantum engine. Each side now has more sophisticated and faster tools than ever before. Defenders detect more flaws, which is good news for security.
Start your crypto adventure safely with OKXThis link uses an affiliate program.But attackers can also use these same tools, which deeply concerns cybersecurity experts.
The story of Zcash arrives in a much broader context than that of a simple technical update. Artificial intelligence simultaneously becomes a protective shield and a massive hacking weapon for attackers. The same models capable of protecting a protocol can also help malicious actors discover exploitable vulnerabilities more quickly.
Mitchell Amador, CEO of Immunefi, perfectly sums up this growing concern within the industry.
The proliferation of these new artificial intelligence models has shifted the cybersecurity playing field in favor of malicious actors, causing a “vulnerability apocalypse” that fuels the return of hacks in decentralized finance.
Source: Cointelegraph.
Recent figures give weight to this warning issued by specialists. According to DefiLlama, crypto hacks reached 634 million dollars last April. It is the worst month recorded since the historic Bybit attack in February 2025.
The Zcash case shows how AI enhances the security of a protocol while transforming the rules of the game. Yet, Anthropic sounds the alarm: AI may be progressing too quickly to control all its consequences.
