For three years, a counterfeiting bug sat live inside Zcash's shielded pool, and no one noticed. Then Taylor Hornby pointed a custom Claude Opus 4.8 agent at the code, and it surfaced the flaw in Orchard that had gone undetected since 2022.

Austin Campbell, Ram Ahluwalia, and Chris Perkins debate what that means for privacy protocols, the rotation away from dead-protocol alts, and why Bitcoin's simplicity may be its strongest security argument yet.

The conversation closes on quantum risk and whether the Lindy effect holds up under the new threat environment.



Hosts:


  
Austin Campbell, Founder of Zero Knowledge Consulting and Adjunct Professor at NYU Stern - https://x.com/austincampbell



  
Ram Ahluwalia, CEO of Lumida - https://x.com/ramahluwalia



  
Chris Perkins, President of CoinFund - https://x.com/perkinscr97




This clip is from a longer conversation on AI, security, and the Zcash counterfeiting bug. Full episode here: https://www.youtube.com/live/oSUVTmC3wZo?si=zTopwWKi3ETPD5Rzย 

We go live every Monday at 4:30pm ET - subscribe to catch it live.



Sponsors


  
Cape: Your biggest crypto vulnerability isn't your wallet, it's your phone number. Cape is America's privacy-first mobile carrier that rotates your SIM identity daily and blocks SIM swaps before they happen. Get 33% off your first six months at cape.co/unchained (use code: UNCHAINED).






Chapters

๐Ÿค– 00:00 Chris on AI, security vulnerabilities, and the Zcash counterfeiting bug

๐Ÿ’ฐ 02:28 Should you rotate into Hyperliquid over dead protocols?

๐Ÿ” 05:53 Claude Opus 4.8 finds Zcash's live shielded-pool bug

๐Ÿ“‰ 08:16 The Enron analogy for a confidence crisis in privacy coins

โš›๏ธ 12:30 Bitcoin's Lindy effect meets the quantum risk tension
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Unchained

Laura Shin

How Claude Found Zcash's Counterfeiting Bug

JUN 10, 202615 MIN
Unchained

How Claude Found Zcash's Counterfeiting Bug

JUN 10, 202615 MIN

Description

For three years, a counterfeiting bug sat live inside Zcash's shielded pool, and no one noticed. Then Taylor Hornby pointed a custom Claude Opus 4.8 agent at the code, and it surfaced the flaw in Orchard that had gone undetected since 2022. Austin Campbell, Ram Ahluwalia, and Chris Perkins debate what that means for privacy protocols, the rotation away from dead-protocol alts, and why Bitcoin's simplicity may be its strongest security argument yet. The conversation closes on quantum risk and whether the Lindy effect holds up under the new threat environment. Hosts: Austin Campbell, Founder of Zero Knowledge Consulting and Adjunct Professor at NYU Stern - https://x.com/austincampbell Ram Ahluwalia, CEO of Lumida - https://x.com/ramahluwalia Chris Perkins, President of CoinFund - https://x.com/perkinscr97 This clip is from a longer conversation on AI, security, and the Zcash counterfeiting bug. Full episode here: https://www.youtube.com/live/oSUVTmC3wZo?si=zTopwWKi3ETPD5Rzย  We go live every Monday at 4:30pm ET - subscribe to catch it live. Sponsors Cape: Your biggest crypto vulnerability isn't your wallet, it's your phone number. Cape is America's privacy-first mobile carrier that rotates your SIM identity daily and blocks SIM swaps before they happen. Get 33% off your first six months at cape.co/unchained (use code: UNCHAINED). Chapters ๐Ÿค– 00:00 Chris on AI, security vulnerabilities, and the Zcash counterfeiting bug ๐Ÿ’ฐ 02:28 Should you rotate into Hyperliquid over dead protocols? ๐Ÿ” 05:53 Claude Opus 4.8 finds Zcash's live shielded-pool bug ๐Ÿ“‰ 08:16 The Enron analogy for a confidence crisis in privacy coins โš›๏ธ 12:30 Bitcoin's Lindy effect meets the quantum risk tension Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices