The privacy-focused cryptocurrency Zcash (ZEC) suffered a massive price crash of up to 57% after a critical “soundness bug” in its Orchard pool was revealed, allowing attackers to mint unlimited fake ZEC for four years. While the team quickly issued a hard fork fix, market confidence has been shattered.
QwQiao's Defense: Mirroring Early Bitcoin
Alliance DAO co-founder QwQiao (Qiao Wang) posted on X platform that Zcash “feels exactly like early Bitcoin,” with smart contributors and a host of critics (midwits), bugs, existential threats, and vomit-inducing price volatility, but enormous asymmetric upside if it ever takes off. He had previously called Zcash a potential 1,000x return asset best held for 10-20 years. He argued that the rapid identification and patching demonstrated technical resilience, and that with global privacy regulations tightening, Zcash's zero-knowledge proof tech holds strategic value.
Community Backlash: 'Early' After a Decade?
The defense sparked fierce pushback. Critics noted Zcash is nearly 10 years old—hardly an early-stage experiment—and that a critical bug after a decade is unacceptable. Since Zcash's privacy pool is un-auditable, there is no proof that no extra coins were minted secretly, undermining its 21 million supply cap. The controversial 20% developer tax was also raised. Most community members dismissed QwQiao's post as a pump attempt by a large holder, advising retail to stick with Bitcoin. Only a few investors see the high-risk, high-reward potential. Previous events, including Arthur Hayes' ZEC sell-off, a core team exodus, and audits revealing Zcash's non-default privacy, have further darkened the outlook for the token.