Zcash Bug Hunter Plans AI-Powered Security Audit of Monero
Privacy coins Zcash and Monero both rely on complex cryptographic designs to protect transaction data, making security audits crucial to the safety of assets and the trustworthiness of their networks. Security engineer Taylor Hornby used AI models to uncover a critical Zcash vulnerability that had remained hidden for four years, showing that large language models can help address blind spots in human reviews of mathematical proofs and logical inconsistencies.
Hornby recently said Monero (XMR) was on the list for his next round of AI security audits. He plans to use LLMs to rapidly scan complex proof structures and pinpoint logical inconsistencies. The initiative builds on the Zcash audit, but reports have yet to disclose a formal start date, budget or completion schedule. Further disclosures will be key to assessing its effectiveness.
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The history behind this eventAnthropic AI Audit Finds No Further Serious Flaws in Zcash Protocol
Zcash is a privacy-focused cryptocurrency whose Orchard shielded pool uses zero-knowledge proofs to conceal transaction information. A vulnerability that could allow the counterfeiting of ZEC remained hidden in the pool for about four years after its 2022 launch. If exploited, it could have enabled the hard-to-detect creation of additional tokens, posing risks to confidence in Zcash’s supply and the security of its privacy protocol.
Zcash suspended Orchard transactions on June 3, 2026, and issued an emergency upgrade the same day. On June 13, Zooko Wilcox said a follow-up review commissioned by Shielded Labs and conducted using Anthropic’s Claude Mythos found no further serious vulnerabilities. The Zcash Foundation said there was no evidence that any vulnerability had been exploited or that any unauthorized issuance had occurred.
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