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5 Jun 2026, 09:08

Critical Zcash Vulnerability Revealed by Founder: Key Details and ZEC Outlook

Zcash’s native cryptocurrency, ZEC, crashed by roughly 45% today, as the market reacted to a notable disclosure from the protocol’s founder, Zooko Wilcox, and other key ecosystem figures. The post explained that researchers had recently found and patched a critical vulnerability associated with Zcash’s Orchard shielded pool – one that could have allowed an attacker to create unlimited counterfeit ZEC without being detected. This brought to light one of the most serious kinds of bugs a cryptocurrency could face: one that threatens the integrity of the coin’s supply. It’s worth noting that the authors said they believe previous exploitation was unlikely; however, they also acknowledged that because of the protocol’s privacy features, there is no cryptographic way to prove today whether or not the bug itself was exploited before it was patched. What Happened to ZEC on June 5th, 2026? As seen in the chart below, ZEC experienced a massive crash on June 5th, 2026, losing more than 45% of its value and plummeting from above $600 to around $300 in a matter of hours. The sudden move followed a disclosure from the protocol’s founder, bringing to light a massive vulnerability that may have allowed attackers to mint counterfeit tokens. Let’s dive a bit deeper. Source: CoinGecko According to Zooko’s post on Twitter, security researcher Taylor Hornby discovered the vulnerability on May 29th, 2026, while reviewing the protocol’s Orchard circuit. To those unaware, Orchard is one of Zcash’s shielded pools – the part of the protocol that makes private transactions possible. Hornby had been hired by Shielded Labs back in April 2026 to conduct ongoing security research on the protocol. His job was to look for hidden flaws before malicious hackers could find it. The discovery came relatively short after Antrophic released its Opus 4.8 AI model on May 28th. In fact, Hornby used this same model as part of a targeted audit of the Orchard circuit. He combined AI-assisted review with traditional security research, and one day later he found the bug and disclosed it to the Zcash Open Development Lab, or ZODL for short. ZODL then coordinated an emergency response throughout the entire Zcash ecosystem, completing the fix by June 2nd, and thereby closing the window of risk. But that’s not the end of the story, because the bug could have caused damage before it was fixed. Allow me to explain. Why This Bug Was So Serious Put in simple terms, the vulnerability could have allowed for someone to create fake ZEC inside Orchard. Cryptocurrencies usually rely on very strict rules to prevent counterfeiting. A blockchain must absolutely know, at all times, that coins being spent really exist and that no one is secretly creating more than allowed. Zcash has a maximum supply of 21 million ZEC, similar to Bitcoin’s fixed-supply model. If someone is able to create unlimited fake ZEC, that would undermine one of the most basic and fundamental promises of the system itself. https://t.co/v7BiOdzU9E — zooko ⓩ (@zooko) June 4, 2026 The vulnerability was caused by what the authors described as an “under-constrained” element in the Orchard circuit. Now, a circuit is a mathematical system used to verify that a private Zcash transaction follows the rules without revealing sensitive details. These are the details about the sender, the receiver, and the amount. “Under-constrained” here means that the circuit did not fully check something it was supposed to be checking. In this case, the flaw enabled the insertion of false inputs into a core cryptographic operation, elliptic curve multiplication, while still making the proof appear valid. The researcher reportedly built a complete exploit and tested it in a local environment. During that test, the exploit generated virtually unlimited undetectable counterfeit ZEC. The authors admitted that if the same tool had been used on mainnet before the fix, it would have generated counterfeit ZEC directly in the real Zcash wallet. The Tradeoff for Privacy The crucial part of this disclosure is not only that the bug existed, but that Zcash’s privacy design makes it impossible to prove whether it was ever exploited before the fix. And it has been here for a while. To be precise – since Orchard was activated in May 2022. So that’s over 4 full years it could have been exploited. Zcash’s protocol is designed so that shielded transactions do not reveal public details about who sent the funds, who received them, or how much was transferred. That privacy is the whole point of the system. At the same time, though, it makes forensic analysis that much harder. On a traditional public and transparent blockchain, investigators are able to trace abnormal coin creation or suspicious transaction patterns. In Orchard, the relevant information, which could essentially point to any potential damages, is hidden by design. As a result, the authors concluded that there is no definitive cryptographic way of determining whether counterfeited coins were created before the vulnerability was patched. It’s important to note that this doesn’t mean that counterfeiting happened – it just means there’s no way to prove it doesn’t. Authors Think Exploitation Was Unlikely: Here’s Why Despite the serious nature of the vulnerability, the authors argue that prior exploitation was probably unlikely. The first reason they outline is that the vulnerability had gone unnoticed for years, despite Zcash’s protocol being reviewed by experienced security engineers and cryptographers. Orchard was activated back in May 2022, as we mentioned above, which means that the bug was there for four years without it being discoverd (or at least not that we know of such discovery). The second reason is that Hornby was onboarded to specifically search for deep protocol vulnerabilities, and this discovery was not accidental. It was the result of focused security effort using advanced tools and expert judgment. They also argued that the vulnerability was patched within just a few days after discovery. That said, the authors were very careful in asking the users not to simply trust their judgment, proposing a more formal way of restoring trust. What’s Next? First things first, Shielded Labs is working with other Zcash devs on a possible network upgrade that would allow users to reliably verify the integrity of the ZEC supply. This idea involves creating a new shielded pool and using “turnstile accounting” for coins leaving Orchard. Put simply, this would create a migration path that’s more controlled. Coins could move from the old pool to the new one under rules that are designed to make sure that more ZEC cannot come out than it legitimately went in. Naturally, this kind of network upgrade wouldn’t take place automatically – it would need community support through the normal government process. Opus 4.8 and Its Role in Discovering this Zcash Vulnerability One of the most impressive parts of this story is the role of AI-assisted security research. Taylor Hornby used Anthropic’s Opus 4.8 model as part of the review that led to the discovery. This doesn’t mean that AI “found the bug on its own.” The disclosure makes it clear that the process involved a very experienced professional, a targeted review, custom tooling, and expert analysis. However, it also shows that AI systems may increasingly become part of high-stakes security work, especially in complex cryptographic systems, where even the smallest mistakes can have disproportionately large consequences. Shielded Labs said it’s now accelerating this kind of proactive research. The post Critical Zcash Vulnerability Revealed by Founder: Key Details and ZEC Outlook appeared first on CryptoPotato .

5 Jun 2026, 09:05

Arthur Hayes Dumps Entire ZEC Position, Sends Zcash Crashing Over 43%

Arthur Hayes is out of Zcash. The BitMEX co-founder announced he has sold his entire ZEC position following the disclosure of a critical vulnerability in Zcash’s Orchard pool, and the market did not wait for an explanation before reacting. ZEC collapsed 43.4% in 24 hours, touching a low of $255 before recovering slightly to trade around $319. Over $81 million in liquidations followed. This is not a normal dip. Something broke, and the fallout is still unfolding. The Orchard Pool Exploit That Started Everything Zcash founder Zooko Wilcox confirmed on X, that security researcher Taylor Hornby discovered a critical counterfeiting vulnerability in Zcash’s Orchard pool on May 29. The Zcash Open Development Lab coordinated an emergency response that was completed by June 2. The timeline matters, the bug existed for several days before the fix landed, and that window is exactly what is making investors nervous. https://t.co/v7BiOdzU9E — zooko ⓩ (@zooko) June 4, 2026 Shielded Labs, one of the organizations involved in the response, was direct about what the vulnerability meant in practice. The bug was real and exploitable. A local test exploit could generate unlimited, undetectable counterfeit ZEC. Read that again: unlimited, undetectable. In a privacy-focused blockchain where the entire value proposition rests on cryptographic certainty, those two words together are about as damaging as it gets. The deeper problem is what Shielded Labs admitted it cannot do. Due to Orchard’s privacy design, it is cryptographically impossible to prove whether the bug was exploited before the patch was deployed. The organization believes prior exploitation was unlikely, but belief is not proof. That distinction, between improbability and impossibility, is precisely what sent Hayes for the exit. Why Arthur Hayes Sold and What He Said About It Hayes posted his reasoning on X, without softening it. He described reading about the exploit and not immediately appreciating how fundamentally it violated his investment thesis. The 30% price dump that followed made him reconsider, and he took profit on the entire position. The Holy Trinity is dead. Sadly due to the Orchard Pool exploit, I had to dump our entire $ZEC bag. – While I think it's extremely unlikely of any minting, it cannot be formally cryptographically proved impossible – The privacy from AI, govt, big tech narrative demands perfection… — Arthur Hayes (@CryptoHayes) June 5, 2026 His explanation zeroed in on the philosophical problem at the heart of the Orchard situation. While he considers it extremely unlikely that any counterfeit minting occurred, he acknowledged it cannot be formally cryptographically proved impossible. That gap, between unlikely and provably impossible, is where his thesis fell apart. The reason that gap matters so much comes down to the narrative Hayes had built around ZEC in the first place. Privacy from AI surveillance, government overreach, and big tech data collection is one of the strongest emerging themes in the current market cycle. But that narrative, Hayes argued, demands perfection, not improbability. A privacy coin that cannot fully guarantee the integrity of its own supply is not a perfect privacy coin. It is a privacy coin with an asterisk. For a thesis built on absolute trust in cryptographic assurance, an asterisk is a dealbreaker. He was measured about it. He acknowledged eating humble pie, said he has no issue with that, and left the door open explicitly, if his assumptions are proven incorrect, he will rebuy, potentially at higher prices. But the position is gone. He also confirmed that his fund continues to hold Worldcoin’s WLD token, adding a characteristically sardonic note that he remains excited for “Lord Elon to pump our bags.” $81 Million in Liquidations and a Market in Freefall The numbers that followed the exploit disclosure are staggering by any measure. According to CoinGlass data, ZEC liquidations totalled $81.91 million in the past 24 hours alone. Of that, approximately $70.55 million came from long liquidations, traders who had bet on ZEC continuing higher and got wiped out as the price collapsed. Short liquidations accounted for the remaining $11.36 million. CoinMarketCap data confirms ZEC is trading around $319, down 43.4% over the 24-hour period following the news. The intraday low of $255 represents a level the token had not seen in a significant period, and the speed of the move reflects how violently the market repriced the asset once the full scope of the vulnerability became clear. Liquidations of this scale do not happen without leverage. ZEC had attracted a meaningful long positioning base, likely built in part around the same privacy narrative that Hayes himself was running. When the narrative cracked, the leverage unwound. The cascade from there was mechanical, long positions got liquidated, selling pressure intensified, prices fell further, more longs got liquidated. The loop ran until the tape was exhausted. What the Orchard Bug Means for Zcash’s Credibility Shielded Labs is already exploring a network upgrade that would verify the integrity of Zcash’s total supply and attempt to prove the non-existence of counterfeit ZEC in the Orchard pool. That work is technically complex and will take time. In the interim, the inability to confirm what did or did not happen during the vulnerability window hangs over the project. For a blockchain that exists specifically to provide financial privacy, a system people trust precisely because they believe its cryptographic guarantees are ironclad, this is the worst kind of disclosure. It is not that the system was definitely compromised. It is that the system cannot prove it was not. Those are very different statements, but in the context of privacy technology, the second one is almost as damaging as the first. The Zcash community has consistently positioned the Orchard pool as an advancement over earlier shielded pool designs. It introduced new cryptographic proofs and improved privacy guarantees. The discovery that a bug within that system could have allowed undetectable infinite minting, and that the privacy protections themselves are what make verification impossible, represents a profound irony that the project now has to confront publicly. Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services. Follow us on Twitter @nulltxnews to stay updated with the latest Crypto, NFT, AI, Cybersecurity, Distributed Computing, and Metaverse news !

5 Jun 2026, 09:00

Zcash Bug Could Have Minted Unlimited ZEC Undetected

A critical vulnerability in Zcash’s Orchard shielded pool could have allowed an attacker to create an unlimited amount of counterfeit ZEC without detection, according to a new disclosure from Zooko Wilcox, Jason McGee and security researcher Taylor Hornby. The flaw was discovered on May 29, remediated through an emergency ecosystem response completed by June 2, and has now triggered a broader debate over how Zcash can prove supply integrity in a privacy-preserving system. Orchard Flaw Puts Zcash Supply Integrity Under Scrutiny The vulnerability was found by Hornby , an experienced security engineer hired by Shielded Labs in April 2026 to conduct ongoing security research on the Zcash protocol. According to the disclosure, the mandate was straightforward: find protocol-level weaknesses before adversaries did. Hornby began reviewing Zcash with a combination of traditional security research and newer AI-assisted auditing methods. The timing was unusually compressed. Shortly after Anthropic released its Opus 4.8 model on May 28, Hornby used it in a targeted review of the Orchard circuit. One day later, he found a critical counterfeiting flaw and disclosed it to Zcash Open Development Lab, or ZODL , whose engineers coordinated the emergency response with other ecosystem participants. “The vulnerability could have been exploited to undetectably create an unlimited amount of counterfeit ZEC within Orchard,” the Shielded Labs post said . “Because of the privacy properties of Orchard, there is no way to cryptographically prove whether the vulnerability was exploited before it was remediated. However, a network upgrade can be deployed to protect users and prove the integrity of the Zcash supply.” The disclosure states that the bug was “real and exploitable.” Hornby, with the help of Opus 4.8, wrote a complete exploit and tested it in a local regtest environment, where it generated unlimited counterfeit ZEC that could not be detected. The authors said that had the same tool been run on mainnet, it would have generated unlimited, undetectable counterfeit ZEC in Hornby’s mainnet wallet. Technically, the issue involved an under-constrained element of the Orchard circuit. That made it possible to feed arbitrary false inputs into an elliptic curve multiplication while still passing the multiplication check. The vulnerability existed from Orchard’s activation in May 2022 until the emergency fix was deployed on June 1, 2026. That timeline is central to the concern. In a transparent ledger, supply irregularities can generally be audited by inspecting public balances and transaction values. Orchard is different by design: it hides amounts and transaction history. That privacy model means the system depends heavily on the correctness of the circuit rules that define valid shielded transactions. Josh Swihart, founder and CEO of Zcash Open Development Lab, the team behind the creation and launch of Zcash and builder of the Zodl wallet, framed the issue in those terms in a separate post. “A shielded Zcash transaction includes a proof that it followed the protocol’s rules, as defined in the rulebook (the circuit) that defines what constitutes a valid transaction. The Orchard vulnerability was in one of the rules, written loosely enough that it would accept false information and still pass. As a result, the engine could be convinced that a fake transaction was valid.” Swihart added that the flaw was not in Zcash’s underlying cryptography or the proof engine itself, but in the handwritten rules. In his words, “This was a flaw in the handwritten rules, not in the underlying cryptography or the engine that creates proofs.” Shielded Labs said prior exploitation appears unlikely, while emphasizing that users should not be asked to rely on that assessment alone. The authors pointed to several reasons for their view: the flaw had evaded years of scrutiny by leading cryptographers, Hornby was specifically hired to find such vulnerabilities, and the response window after discovery was sharply narrowed by the speed of ZODL and the broader Zcash ecosystem. “The discovery was not accidental—it was the result of a deliberate effort to identify vulnerabilities of this kind before malicious actors could,” the post said. “Taylor is one of the most skilled people in the world at this. He used the most recent AI tools, available only to white-hat security researchers, along with a sophisticated custom-built AI harness and prompts, and worked hard to outrace the attackers. We think he probably succeeded.” Still, the authors acknowledged the unresolved cryptographic uncertainty. Because of Orchard’s privacy properties and the nature of the bug, they said there is no definitive way to prove solely through cryptography whether the vulnerability was exploited before the fix. Shielded Labs Eyes New Pool And Formal Verification To address that, Shielded Labs is exploring a proposed network upgrade with other Zcash developers. The plan would deploy a new shielded pool and enforce turnstile accounting on coins moving from the existing Orchard pool, with the goal of allowing anyone to verify the integrity of the Zcash supply and prove the non-existence of counterfeit ZEC in Orchard. A follow-up post is expected next week with more details, including tradeoffs and implementation mechanics. Any major upgrade would still need community support and the standard governance process before activation. Swihart said a second Orchard pool could, in principle, be targeted for NU7 at the end of July, though he did not take a fixed position on whether that path should be pursued. He argued that the larger issue is preventing this class of failure from recurring, with formal verification as the strongest answer. “Formal verification fixes this,” Swihart wrote. “A mathematical proof can be constructed to reduce the parts humans must review to a concise, readable statement of the rules. A computer then checks the entire rulebook to ensure it matches. AI tools can now do the work of writing these proofs.” Shielded Labs said it is already accelerating proactive security work with Hornby and Anthropic, initiating a project to formally verify the Orchard circuit, and opening searches for a Head of Security and a Cryptographer. The episode leaves Zcash with a difficult but clear path: repair the trust assumptions around Orchard, prove supply integrity where possible, and move future shielded design closer to machine-checked guarantees rather than human-reviewed complexity. Over the past 24 hours, ZEC has fallen nearly 45% amid the uncertainty. At press time, it was trading at $337.

5 Jun 2026, 08:35

Binance to Halt NEAR Deposits and Withdrawals for Network Upgrade on June 9

BitcoinWorld Binance to Halt NEAR Deposits and Withdrawals for Network Upgrade on June 9 Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has announced a temporary suspension of deposits and withdrawals for Near Protocol (NEAR) to accommodate a scheduled network upgrade. The halt will take effect at 8:00 a.m. UTC on June 9. Scheduled Maintenance Details According to an official notice from Binance, the suspension is a standard procedure to ensure the safety and stability of user funds during the network upgrade. The exchange will resume deposits and withdrawals once the upgrade is complete and the network is deemed stable. Users are advised to monitor Binance’s status page for the exact resumption time, which will be announced separately. What This Means for NEAR Traders For traders holding NEAR on Binance, the suspension means they will be unable to move tokens in or out of the exchange during the maintenance window. However, trading pairs involving NEAR are expected to remain unaffected. The halt is a routine technical measure and is not expected to impact the broader market, though short-term volatility around the upgrade period is possible. Near Protocol’s Network Upgrade Near Protocol, a layer-1 blockchain known for its sharded architecture and developer-friendly environment, regularly undergoes network upgrades to improve scalability, security, and functionality. The specific details of the upcoming upgrade have not been fully disclosed by the Near team, but such updates typically include protocol improvements and bug fixes. Users holding NEAR in self-custody wallets or on other exchanges are not affected by this Binance-specific suspension. Conclusion The temporary suspension of NEAR deposits and withdrawals on Binance is a standard operational procedure tied to a network upgrade. Users should plan accordingly and ensure any pending transactions are completed before the cutoff time. Binance has a track record of resuming services promptly after such maintenance events. FAQs Q1: Will my NEAR funds be safe during the suspension? Yes. Your NEAR balance on Binance will remain secure and unaffected. The suspension only affects the ability to deposit or withdraw tokens. Q2: How long will the suspension last? Binance has not specified an exact duration, but the suspension will be lifted once the network upgrade is complete and the network is confirmed stable. Updates will be posted on Binance’s official status page. Q3: Can I still trade NEAR on Binance during the suspension? Yes. Trading pairs involving NEAR are expected to remain active throughout the maintenance period. Only deposits and withdrawals are temporarily disabled. This post Binance to Halt NEAR Deposits and Withdrawals for Network Upgrade on June 9 first appeared on BitcoinWorld .

5 Jun 2026, 08:00

Zama CEO Calls Current Crypto Downturn the Worst Bear Market in History

BitcoinWorld Zama CEO Calls Current Crypto Downturn the Worst Bear Market in History Rand Hindi, the CEO of Zama, an Ethereum-based privacy protocol, has described the ongoing cryptocurrency downturn as the most severe bear market the industry has ever faced. In a post on X, Hindi, who has been active in the crypto space since 2013, stated that this decline surpasses previous crises in terms of its psychological and structural impact on the market. Comparing Past and Present Crises Hindi argued that earlier events, such as China’s ban on Bitcoin, the collapses of FTX and Terra (LUNA), the Mt. Gox hack, and regulatory actions by former U.S. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, were not as disheartening as the current situation. He pointed to a new and unique threat: the ability of artificial intelligence to attack smart contracts with simple commands. This, he believes, has introduced a level of vulnerability that the industry has not previously encountered. Factors Driving the Downturn According to Hindi, the current market conditions are ripe for a large-scale sell-off. He cited a combination of factors, including a liquidity shift following the SpaceX IPO, Bitcoin sales by Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) founder Michael Saylor, and a series of hacks targeting AI-based protocols. These elements, he suggested, have created a perfect storm that is pressuring prices and investor sentiment. Implications for the Industry Despite the grim outlook, Hindi offered a note of resilience. He stated that those who survive this market will become invincible and will lead the emergence of trillion-dollar protocols. This perspective suggests that while the current environment is challenging, it may also serve as a crucible for stronger, more secure projects. The key takeaway for investors and developers is the need to focus on security and fundamental value rather than short-term gains. Conclusion Hindi’s assessment underscores a growing concern within the crypto community about the intersection of AI and blockchain security. As the market navigates these uncharted waters, the ability of protocols to defend against AI-driven attacks may become a defining factor in their long-term survival. The current bear market, while painful, may ultimately separate robust projects from those that are not built to withstand the next generation of threats. FAQs Q1: Why does Rand Hindi consider this the worst bear market in crypto history? He believes the combination of AI’s ability to attack smart contracts, liquidity shifts from major events like the SpaceX IPO, and significant Bitcoin sales by prominent figures has created a unique and severe crisis that previous downturns did not include. Q2: What is Zama, and why is its CEO’s opinion significant? Zama is an Ethereum-based privacy protocol focused on homomorphic encryption. As a CEO with deep industry experience since 2013, Hindi’s perspective carries weight due to his long-term involvement and technical expertise. Q3: What does Hindi mean by ‘those who survive will become invincible’? He suggests that projects and investors that endure the current market conditions will emerge stronger, more resilient, and better positioned to lead the next phase of crypto growth, potentially building trillion-dollar protocols. This post Zama CEO Calls Current Crypto Downturn the Worst Bear Market in History first appeared on BitcoinWorld .

5 Jun 2026, 07:20

Zcash Plunges 45% as Critical Bug Threatens Infinite Coin Duplication

BitcoinWorld Zcash Plunges 45% as Critical Bug Threatens Infinite Coin Duplication Zcash (ZEC) has experienced a dramatic price collapse, losing more than 45% of its value in the last 24 hours. According to data from CoinMarketCap, the privacy-focused token is currently trading at approximately $322.83, down from over $590 just a day earlier. The sharp decline follows the disclosure of a critical vulnerability in Zcash’s Orchard protocol that could have allowed an attacker to create an unlimited number of new coins out of thin air. What Happened: The Orchard Protocol Bug The bug, described as an ‘infinite coin duplication’ vulnerability, was discovered within the Orchard protocol, the newest and most advanced privacy layer of the Zcash network. Orchard uses a zero-knowledge proving system called Halo 2 to enable shielded transactions. The flaw could have permitted a malicious actor to forge valid proofs, effectively minting counterfeit ZEC without detection. The Zcash development team, led by the Electric Coin Company (ECC) and the Zcash Foundation, was alerted to the issue and moved quickly to deploy a fix before the vulnerability could be exploited in the wild. However, the news of the bug’s existence and its potential severity has severely shaken investor confidence. Market Impact and Investor Reaction The market’s response was swift and brutal. The 45% drop represents one of the single largest daily losses for a major cryptocurrency in recent memory. Trading volume for ZEC surged as holders rushed to exit their positions, exacerbating the downward spiral. The sell-off was not limited to spot markets; futures and derivatives markets saw cascading liquidations, further amplifying the price decline. While the technical fix has been implemented, the reputational damage may take longer to repair. The incident raises serious questions about the robustness of even the most advanced cryptographic systems and the risks inherent in holding assets built on complex, novel technology. Why This Matters for Zcash and Privacy Coins Zcash has long been a flagship project for privacy-focused cryptocurrencies, competing with Monero and others. Its core value proposition is the ability to transact with complete anonymity. A bug that threatens the integrity of the coin supply — the most fundamental guarantee of any cryptocurrency — strikes at the heart of that value proposition. For users and investors, the key question is whether the fix is complete and whether any funds were actually stolen. As of now, the Zcash team has stated that the bug was patched before any exploitation occurred, but independent verification and a full post-mortem are still pending. This event could also invite increased regulatory scrutiny, as regulators may argue that such vulnerabilities make privacy coins inherently risky and unsuitable for mainstream adoption. Conclusion The Zcash crash is a stark reminder that even the most technically sophisticated blockchain projects are not immune to critical vulnerabilities. While the development team’s rapid response appears to have prevented a catastrophic exploit, the market has already delivered its verdict. The price recovery will likely depend on the community’s trust in the patch, the release of a transparent and detailed audit, and the project’s ability to demonstrate that its security practices are beyond reproach. For now, Zcash trades in a state of uncertainty, and the broader crypto market is watching closely. FAQs Q1: What was the Zcash bug that caused the price to crash? The bug was a critical vulnerability in the Orchard protocol that could have allowed an attacker to create an unlimited number of counterfeit ZEC coins by forging zero-knowledge proofs. This is known as an ‘infinite coin duplication’ exploit. Q2: Has the bug been fixed, and were any funds stolen? According to the Zcash development team, the bug was identified and patched before any exploitation occurred. No funds are believed to have been stolen. However, independent security audits are ongoing to confirm the fix’s completeness. Q3: What is the Orchard protocol in Zcash? Orchard is the newest privacy protocol on the Zcash network, designed to provide highly efficient and secure shielded transactions using the Halo 2 zero-knowledge proving system. It is a core component of Zcash’s privacy features. This post Zcash Plunges 45% as Critical Bug Threatens Infinite Coin Duplication first appeared on BitcoinWorld .