Researcher who found Zcash's bug with AI adds Monero to his audit queue
Security researcher Taylor Hornby is planning to audit Monero after successfully using an AI model to identify a critical vulnerability in Zcash. The Zcash flaw, which could have allowed for the creation of counterfeit tokens, was patched following its discovery.
Why it matters
This highlights the growing role of AI in cybersecurity and the ongoing risks associated with privacy-focused cryptocurrencies.
Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Researcher who found Zcash s bug with AI adds Monero to his audit queue Taylor Hornby, who uncovered the Orchard flaw that sent Zcash down 38%, says other privacy coins are on his list too. By Shaurya Malwa Jun 6, 2026, 9:38 a.m. 1 min read Make preferred on What to know : Security engineer Taylor Hornby, who recently used Anthropic’s Opus 4.8 AI model to uncover a critical bug in Zcash, says he will next audit Monero and other privacy-focused cryptocurrencies. The Zcash flaw, hidden in the Orchard privacy pool since May 2022, could have allowed unlimited counterfeit ZEC to be minted undetected and prompted an emergency fix by June 1 after its discovery on May 29. Hornby, hired by nonprofit developer Shielded Labs to find protocol bugs before attackers do, disclosed the vulnerability instead of exploiting it and plans to seek a Zcash coinholder grant to fund further work. Taylor Hornby, the security engineer who used Anthropic s Opus 4.8 AI model to find a critical bug in Zcash, says privacy coin Monero is among the tokens he intends to audit next.
The article reports on technical events and statements without taking a stance on the security of the coins.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in