Taylor Hornby, the security engineer behind the Orchard flaw discovery that caused a 38% decline in Zcash, is set to audit Monero and additional privacy coins.
By Shaurya Malwa Jun 6, 2026, 9:38 a.m. 1 min readMake preferred onKey Points:
- Taylor Hornby, a security engineer who utilized Anthropic’s Opus 4.8 AI model to identify a significant bug in Zcash, has announced plans to audit Monero along with other privacy-centric cryptocurrencies.
- The Zcash vulnerability, which was found in the Orchard privacy pool and had remained unnoticed since May 2022, could have permitted the minting of unlimited counterfeit ZEC undetected, leading to an emergency patch on June 1 after its detection on May 29.
- Hornby, who was brought on by the nonprofit Shielded Labs to detect protocol flaws, chose to report the vulnerability rather than exploit it, and he intends to apply for a Zcash coinholder grant to support his ongoing work.
Taylor Hornby, the security engineer who discovered a critical bug in Zcash using Anthropic's Opus 4.8 AI model, is now focusing on auditing Monero and other privacy coins.
When asked on X if he could scrutinize Monero and other privacy-focused cryptocurrencies for flaws, Hornby affirmed, "Absolutely! I'll add Monero to my queue of things to audit."
Monero, traded as XMR, ranks among the largest privacy-focused cryptocurrencies and automatically conceals transaction details, unlike Zcash, where users can choose between transparent or shielded addresses.
Hornby identified the Zcash flaw on May 29, which had been hidden in the Orchard privacy pool since May 2022. This flaw could have allowed an attacker to mint unlimited, undetectable counterfeit ZEC. After the vulnerability was disclosed by Shielded Labs, an emergency fix was implemented by June 1.
Following the revelation, Zcash experienced a 38% drop in value within 24 hours due to concerns that a hacker might have previously stolen from the shielded pool without leaving any evidence.
Hornby, who joined Shielded Labs in April to seek out protocol vulnerabilities, stated he reported the flaw instead of exploiting it because the Zcash developers felt "like family" and he could not "live with that kind of betrayal."
He also plans to seek a Zcash coinholder grant to finance his future efforts.
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- An AI model uncovered a four-year-old bug in Zcash that could have enabled the issuance of unlimited tokens, triggering a sharp selloff in the cryptocurrency.
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