ZEC "Counterfeit Coin Vulnerability" Breaks: The Trust Fortress of Privacy Narratives Is Cracked Open by AI

The hottest scoop in the crypto world recently comes from the veteran privacy coin Zcash ($ZEC).

Key highlight:
Security researcher using Anthropic's latest model Claude Opus 4.8 auditing discovered a fatal flaw in the Orchard privacy pool—a clause in the rule manual that is "too lenient," allowing attackers to locally forge unlimited ZEC without detection.

Timeline:

· Emergency fix on June 1-2
· Public disclosure by founder Zooko on June 5
· ZEC plummeted 26%-36% within 24 hours
· Major holder Arthur Hayes, who held a "Trinity" position, liquidated and left, saying: "Privacy against AI/government/Big Tech requires perfection, not 'probably safe.'"

Team response:
Lead developer Josh Swihart did not dodge the issue, openly stating that this is a "flaw in the rule manual itself," not a problem with cryptography or proof engines.
His long-term solution is formal verification—using mathematical proofs to replace manual review, ensuring the rule manual is completely bug-free. In the short term, they consider launching a second formally verified Orchard pool in the NU7 upgrade, along with the next-generation simpler circuit Tachyon.

A few thoughts:

· The quick response and transparency are commendable
· But for the privacy track, "past issuance vulnerabilities" itself is a narrative crack
· Market sentiment + large holder exit + overall market decline make short-term optimism difficult
· In the long run, if formal verification can truly be implemented, Zcash might regain the label of "the most hardcore privacy coin"—but trust rebuilding is always more difficult than fixing code. $ZEC