hodler

6 Jun 2026, 21:00

Zcash Suffers Historic Collapse As Billions Vanish From Market Value

The cryptocurrency market was shaken by a dramatic collapse in Zcash price, with the privacy-focused digital asset losing more than half of its value in just 24 hours. This sudden decline erased billions of dollars from its market capitalization, making it one of the most significant single-day drawdowns seen in the sector this year. What Triggered Zcash’s Dramatic Market Collapse? The dramatic collapse in Zcash may be tied to fear surrounding a recently disclosed vulnerability affecting the network’s privacy infrastructure. In a recent post on X, an analyst known as Bull Theory revealed that the biggest privacy coin lost over 50% of its value within 24 hours, erasing $5 billion from its market capitalization. This sharp selloff was hidden inside the Zcash Orchard privacy pool since May 2022 and remained undetected for nearly four years despite multiple security audits. Reports indicate that security researcher Taylor Hornby identified the issue using the Claude Opus 4.8 artificial intelligence and successfully developed a working proof-of-concept that generated counterfeit ZEC during local testing on May 29. Although the bug has now been patched as of June 2, the deeper concern is that Zcash’s privacy design makes it impossible to know if any counterfeit ZEC was minted before the fix. Unlike Bitcoin, where the total supply can be independently verified on-chain, Zcash’s privacy design makes it difficult to confirm whether any counterfeit coins were secretly minted before the fix. While the development team maintains that no fake ZEC was minted, the lack of verifiability has fueled uncertainty and panic among traders who sell their holdings. This situation highlights a fundamental trade-off between privacy and transparency. As a result, Shielded Labs is now exploring a proposed network upgrade that would allow participants to verify the integrity of the Zcash total supply, aiming to restore confidence across ZEC’s ecosystem. World-Class Security Research Remains Central To Zcash’s Development Zcash’s strength lies in the caliber of its cryptographers, security engineers, and security researchers. Co-Founder of Gemini, Cypherpunk, Winklevosscap Guitars, and Marsjunction, Cameron Winklevoss, has explained that the community is heavily focused on continuous improvement and hardening the network. This proactive approach is precisely why the project actively engages world-class security researchers to search for vulnerabilities, an effort that led to the recent discovery of a potential exploit. Winklevoss frames the incident as a positive signal rather than a cause for alarm. In complex Layer 1 systems, no blockchain network is immune to bugs. What is important is that there are world-class researchers focused on hardening the network and staying ahead of the villain. This dynamic, where elite researchers are constantly testing and strengthening the system, is fundamental to building resilient and secure infrastructure.

6 Jun 2026, 20:56

AI Is Helping Discover Tech Vulnerabilities—And Zcash Is Just the Latest Example

Frontier AI models have evolved into bug-finding tools, uncovering vulnerabilities across the tech world—and now in crypto too.

6 Jun 2026, 20:20

ZachXBT accuses Arthur Hayes of using followers as exit liquidity after WLD token sell-off

Blockchain investigator ZachXBT has called out BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes on June 6 for dumping tokens he had publicly promoted. He questioned how much “exit liquidity” Hayes’s followers absorbed in the process. This comes after Hayes exited positions in NEAR, HYPE, ZEC, and WLD in a space of two weeks, each sale following public endorsements that drew retail attention to the tokens. >Promote WLD position you claim to be super bullish on multiple times with targets significantly higher than current price >Exit WLD position shortly after ??? — ZachXBT (@zachxbt) June 6, 2026 Which tokens did Hayes sell after promoting? On May 22, Hayes called Hyperliquid’s HYPE, Zcash’s ZEC, and NEAR Protocol’s NEAR tokens the “ Holy Trinity ” and opened bullish positions on them. By June 4, he had sold his entire HYPE and NEAR holdings , posting on X that a forthcoming essay titled “Reality Test” would explain the reasoning. He stated that higher energy prices from the Iran conflict, three upcoming “mega AI IPOs,” and a prediction that Trump would pivot against AI ahead of midterms were reasons for his action. One day later, Hayes dumped his ZEC position , pointing to the Orchard Pool exploit as the catalyst. He stated that “the privacy from AI, govt, big tech narrative demands perfection” and that the exploit, while unlikely to have enabled token minting, could not be “formally cryptographically proved impossible.” At that point, he said he was still holding WLD. However, that hold lasted less than 24 hours. On June 4, Hayes framed Worldcoin as a bet on SpaceX’s upcoming Nasdaq listing, writing that the IPO was “going to melt people’s faces off.” By June 6, he had sold the WLD position too, writing that “this chart is going in the wrong direction.” How did ZachXBT challenge Hayes? ZachXBT’s post highlighted all four exits. The blockchain investigator directed a question to Hayes, asking him, “How much exit liquidity was created from your followers over the past couple days?” and listing the tokens in order: “First NEAR HYPE ZEC / Now WLD.” Hayes responded to ZachXBT, writing, “I sold to a willing seller at a price.” He added, “Prices could be higher and then I would be called a dumb ass. I just happened to call it right this time as it regards to my trading goals.” Could Hayes face further backlash? The dispute lands at a moment when influencer-driven trading remains one of crypto’s most contentious dynamics. Hayes commands a large following. His HYPE/NEAR exit post alone pulled over 3,300 likes and 536 quote tweets, and his endorsements carry enough weight to move retail sentiment. The pattern ZachXBT identified is specific: public promotion generates buying interest, and the promoter exits into that demand. Each individual trade came with its own rationale, from macro concerns to exploit risk to chart weakness. Taken together over 15 days, the cumulative effect is what ZachXBT characterized as followers absorbing the downside. WLD was trading at $0.42 as of June 6, according to CoinMarketCap data , down more than 96% from its all-time high of $11.82 set in March 2024. Hayes has previously built and exited positions publicly, including a long-running bullish stance on ZEC. A Cryptopolitan report from May noted that Hayes had set a ZEC price target of 10% of Bitcoin’s value, which at the time implied a price above $8,000, roughly 14 times where ZEC was trading. The “Reality Test” essay Hayes promised as explanation for his HYPE and NEAR exits has not yet been published. Observers will be looking forward to whether it addresses the full four-token sequence, and the questions ZachXBT raised. If you're reading this, you’re already ahead. Stay there with our newsletter .

6 Jun 2026, 20:10

Zcash to Worldcoin: ZachXBT Says Arthur Hayes Turned 4 Token Calls Into ‘Exit Liquidity’

Onchain investigator ZachXBT accused BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes of turning his own audience into “exit liquidity,” saying Hayes most recently promoted Worldcoin token (WLD) and then sold it shortly afterward, capping a roughly 15-day stretch in which he exited four publicly hyped positions. A Familiar Sequence of Hype and Exit ZachXBT leveled the charge in