Key highlights:
- Zcash crashed from $536 to $263 in the span of about 12 hours after researchers disclosed a critical vulnerability.
- The vulnerability, which has already been patched, would have allowed an attacker to create an unlimited amount of ZEC in the Orchard shielded pool while remaining undetected.
- Although it’s currently not possible to prove that the vulnerability hadn’t been exploited prior to the patch, researchers say that the probability is low.
- Zcash developers plan to release a network upgrade that will prove the integrity of the ZEC supply.
Zcash, which had been a notable crypto outperformer in the last 30 days, suffered a major crash after researchers disclosed a serious vulnerability in the Orchard shielded pool.
ZEC, which traded at $536 at 7:30 PM UTC on June 4, fell all the way down to $263 by 7:15 AM UTC on June 5, a drop of nearly 51%. As a result, Zcash dropped from 12th to 18th place in the crypto market cap rankings.
The magnitude of the crash reflects the potential severity of the vulnerability, which would allow an attacker to create an unlimited amount of ZEC in the Orchard pool.
Orchard is