Taylor Hornby, the security engineer who used Anthropic's Opus 4.8 AI model to uncover a critical bug in Zcash's Orchard privacy pool on May 29, 2026, has announced he plans to audit Monero next. The bug, which had been undetected since May 2022, could have allowed an attacker to mint unlimited, undetectable counterfeit ZEC. Shielded Labs disclosed the flaw on June 4 and pushed an emergency fix by June 1. Zcash's price dropped 38% in 24 hours amid fears of undetected exploitation. Hornby, hired by Shielded Labs in April, reported the flaw rather than exploit it, citing personal ties to Zcash developers. He intends to apply for a Zcash coinholder grant to fund further audits, including Monero. The incident has raised concerns that AI-powered vulnerability discovery could expose similar bugs in other privacy coins and traditional financial systems.

Key facts

• Hornby used Anthropic's Opus 4.8 AI to find a Zcash bug that could mint unlimited counterfeit ZEC.
• The Orchard privacy pool flaw existed since May 2022; emergency fix deployed by June 1.
• Zcash price fell 38% after disclosure due to fears of undetected exploitation.
• Hornby plans to audit Monero next and will apply for a Zcash coinholder grant.
• Bug was reported rather than exploited due to Hornby's ties to Zcash developers.