Privacy-focused Zcash halves after researcher using Anthropic's Claude finds flaw
Zcash, a privacy-focused crypto, lost half its value on June 4, 2026, when a major vulnerability was revealed.
The flaw had been hiding in the code for over four years and was discovered by a security researcher using Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.8 one day after its release.
If left unchecked, hackers could have created unlimited tokens, basically breaking Zcash's security.
White hat alerted Zcash, patch applied
Luckily, a white hat hacker flagged the issue to Zcash's team, which patched it up quickly after discovery, though it was not yet clear whether it had been exploited.
This whole episode shows how AI is becoming key to finding bugs, but also makes it easier for attackers to spot weaknesses.
Open-source projects like Zcash are especially at risk since their code is out there for anyone (including AIs) to scan.
Experts say stronger defenses are needed as this tech arms race heats up.