XRPL Foundation Teases XRP Ledger Native Privacy Amid Zcash Crisis

• Claude’s new model uncovered a critical Zcash Orchard pool bug unnoticed since May 2022, triggering a 46% crash.
• XRPL Foundation Vet responded by teasing amendment XLS-0096 which brings native privacy to XRP Ledger.
• This amendment will offer verifiable confidentiality to the XRPL for MPTs designed to be AI-resistant.

XRPL Foundation community lead Vet (XRPL Foundation contributor and dUNL validator) teased amendment XLS-0096 which brings native privacy to XRP Ledger amid Zcash’s (ZEC) sharp 46% price crash. The plunge followed revelation of a critical bug in Zcash’s Orchard shielded pool undetected since May 2022. This contrast spotlights XRPL’s push for verifiable confidentiality using advanced encryption and zero-knowledge proofs.

Claude’s New Model Discovers Critical Bug Behind Zcash 46% Crash

On June 5, 2026, ZEC crashed 46% in a single day following the public disclosure of a critical soundness vulnerability in Zcash’s Orchard shielded pool, a bug that had gone undetected since the pool launched in May 2022.

Security engineer Taylor Hornby, conducting an audit for Shielded Labs, discovered the flaw after Anthropic released its latest model, Claude Opus 4.8. Using the AI-assisted formal verification tools in a highly targeted review of the Orchard circuit (the zero-knowledge proof system powering shielded transactions), Hornby identified an under-constrained elliptic-curve multiplication check inside the halo2_gadgets crate.

How the Teased XRPL’s Amendment XLS-0096 Brings Native Privacy

XRPL Foundation directly responded to Zcash’s ongoing crisis by publicly teasing the network’s upcoming privacy upgrade linked straight to the official specification for XLS-0096 standard. This amendment uses EC-ElGamal homomorphic encryption and zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP) in a hybrid setup, balances and transaction amounts stay encrypted from outsiders, and validators can still mathematically verify total token supply (prevents “invisible” fake coins).

Furthermore, the amendment has a split-balance model with a spendable part and  “Inbox” buffer to avoid wallet freezes from outdated proofs, and built-in selective disclosure with view keys for institutional compliance where regulators can see what they need without exposing everything.

Related: XRP Ledger Boosts Regulatory Compliance with Boundless Integration 

What’s Next for Zcash and XRPL?

Notably, the Zcash hidden bug disclosure immediately raised fears of hidden inflation and an untrustworthy supply, triggering widespread panic selling. For instance, major holders, such as BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes, have liquidated their entire ZEC positions.

Zcash’s core team responded with an emergency two-phase upgrade: a soft fork on June 2 temporarily disabled Orchard transactions, followed by a hard fork on June 3 that deployed new verifying keys to close the vulnerability permanently. Zcash also announced plans to hire additional cryptographers, build a replacement shielded pool, and manually verify the entire coin supply. At press time, ZEC is trading at $307.30, down 42.85% in the last 24 hours.

Furthermore, XRPL, leveraging its battle-tested infrastructure and Ripple’s enterprise ties, appears better positioned for sustainable growth by blending privacy with transparency, speed, and regulatory friendliness. Multi-Purpose Tokens (MPTs) such as stablecoins and tokenized assets lay the foundation for potential native privacy features. 

Related: Flare Developers Build Privacy Layer for XRP Ledger and Bitcoin 

Therefore, XRPL’s approach targets institutional adoption by balancing confidentiality with regulatory compliance, resilience to AI and cryptographic threats, and split-balance usability. As tokenization and real-world assets expand, XRPL could gain market share by offering “privacy with accountability.”