a researcher using anthropic AI fable 5 (mythos) just found a bug that could silently print unlimited zcash and nobody knew it existed since 2022 π³
here's the full zcash story from the beginning π§΅
beginning (2016):
- zcash launched as a bitcoin fork on october 28, 2016
- built by cryptographers from johns hopkins and others
- introduced zk-snarks, zero knowledge proofs for private transactions
- users could choose transparent addresses (public like bitcoin) or shielded ones (hiding sender, receiver and amount)
- financial privacy as a human right was the mission
early controversy:
- founders reward gave 20% of block rewards to ECC, early investors and founders for 4 years
- critics called it a hidden pre-mine and insider tax
- trust issues started early
2026 governance split:
- entire ECC team split from bootstrap nonprofit in early 2026
- cited misalignment with board members
- zooko wilcox (founder) publicly defended the board
- new company formed, protocol unaffected but price dropped on uncertainty
bug that shook everything:
- june 2026: critical soundness bug discovered in orchard shielded pool
- present since 2022 and nobody found it
- could theoretically allow unlimited undetectable counterfeit ZEC inside shielded pool
- found by researcher taylor hornby using anthropic AI
- emergency soft fork june 2, hard fork patch followed
- no evidence of exploitation found
large withdrawal that looked like a rug:
- arkham intelligence reported nearly 1% of all ZEC in orchard pool being withdrawn
- looked like a rug on the surface
- actually users migrating funds ahead of ironwood upgrade (targeting late july 2026)
- ironwood introduces a new formally verified shielded pool with better supply tracking
- old orchard pool goes withdraw-only after upgrade
- price dropped 30-40% on bug disclosure then recovered 80%
two founders behind it all:
- zooko wilcox (founder, born 1974): cypherpunk, built zcash, handed CEO role to josh swihart in december 2023, now strategic advisor
- josh swihart (CEO since dec 2023): led ECC team, founded zcash open development lab (ZODL), building zashi wallet and ironwood upgrade
where zcash stands today:
- protocol still fully operational
- ironwood upgrade coming late july 2026
- new formally verified privacy pool being built
- active development continuing despite governance drama
a 10 year old privacy coin. a silent bug since 2022. a governance war. and a major upgrade incoming
would you trust zcash after all this? π