For several days, thick doubt hovered over Zcash like dormant malware. A vulnerability discovered in its confidentiality infrastructure had awakened the old demons of crypto investors. However, the atmosphere changes radically after this new examination. An audit requested by Shielded Labs and carried out by Anthropic's artificial intelligence Claude Mythos found no other major flaws in the protocol.
In brief
- Zcash fixed a critical flaw in its Orchard private pool in June.
- AI Claude Mythos then audited the protocol without finding any other bugs.
- The vulnerability discovered by Taylor Hornby was four years old.
- No evidence of exploitation or illegal creation of ZECs was detected.
Zcash breathes after the Mythos scanner
The case dates back to the end of May this year. An independent researcher, Taylor Hornby, discovers a years-old vulnerability in Orchard. With the help of Claude Opus 4.8, it identifies a fault serious enough to trigger an emergency response from the network.
Developers then temporarily suspend Orchard transactions before deploying a patch.
According to the Zcash Foundation, no exploitation has been detected on the mainnet to date. No ZEC was created illegally and user confidentiality remained perfectly intact.
Zooko Wilcox himself, however, recognized the potential seriousness of the problem encountered.
The vulnerability could have been exploited to undetectably create an unlimited amount of fake ZECs in Orchard.
Source: Zooko Wilcox –
Once the patch was successfully applied, Shielded Labs requested a full and thorough re-audit. This time, the goal was more like a post-op check-up than emergency surgery on a vital organ.
AI monitors Zcash without triggering a red alert
The result of this audit today constitutes the real information for the markets. Claude Mythos, Anthropic's new model specializing in the search for complex vulnerabilities, did not detect no other serious flaws in the Zcash protocol.
On X, Zooko Wilcox thanked Anthropic for its contribution to network security and user protection. He also confirmed that the security enhancement works continued quietly, without any dangerous rush.
However, the issue goes well beyond the scope of the Zcash project alone. The crypto industry is now witnessing a new generation of tools capable of examining millions of lines of code with almost unreal speed and surgical precision.
Anthropic even claims that Mythos has identified more than 10,000 critical vulnerabilities in software deemed strategic to the world's digital infrastructure.
This evolution resembles a game of chess accelerated by a particularly powerful quantum engine. Each side now has tools that are more sophisticated and faster than ever before. Defenders are finding more vulnerabilities, which is good news for security.
But attackers can also use these same tools, which deeply worries cybersecurity experts.
Crypto discovers the double edge of artificial intelligence
The story of Zcash comes 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 that can protect a protocol can also help malicious actors discover exploitable vulnerabilities more quickly.
Mitchell Amador, director 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 bad actors, causing a “vulnerability apocalypse” that is fueling 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 last April. This is the worst month recorded since the historic Bybit attack in February 2025.
Key figures from the Zcash audit
- The price of ZEC is currently trading around $426;
- More than 10,000 critical vulnerabilities detected by Mythos;
- Crypto hacks estimated at $634 million in April;
- Bug discovered by Taylor Hornby with Claude Opus 4.8;
- Mythos audit requested after correction of the flaw.
The Zcash affair shows how AI strengthens the security of a protocol while transforming the rules of the game. However, Anthropic is sounding the alarm: AI is perhaps progressing too quickly to control all its consequences.
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