Monero Talk

Andrey Sabelnikov on the Significance of Zano’s Upcoming Hard Fork 6 | EPI 393

August 20th, 2026  |  1 hr 41 mins

andreysabelnikov, bitcoin, blockchain, crypto, cryptocurrency, fungible, hardfork, monero, monerotalk, monerotopia, privacy, privacycoin, xmr, zano

TODAY'S SHOW: In this episode of Monero Talk, Douglas Tuman speaks with Andrey Sabelnikov, founder of Zano and original developer of the CryptoNote codebase, about how the rise of AI is changing blockchain security and software development. Sabelnikov explains how Zano began using AI-assisted auditing to uncover vulnerabilities—including an old emission bug—and how the team has built automated testing systems around increasingly capable AI models.

The conversation then turns to Zano’s upcoming Hard Fork 6, gateway addresses, confidential assets, its planned execution layer, and the transition toward proof of stake. Douglas and Andrey also compare Zano and Monero, discuss the future of privacy coins, proof-of-work versus proof-of-stake, and the challenge of making financial privacy more widely accepted without the stigma currently attached to privacy technology.

Part II of The Future of Zano & the Cryptonote Protocol w/ Andrey Sabelnikov | EPI 307

April 9th, 2024  |  47 mins 39 secs

andreysabelnikov, bitcoin, blockchain, crypto, cryptocurrency, ethereum, fungible, monero, monerotalk, monerotopia, nicolasvansaberhagen, privacy, privacycoin, proofofstake, xmr, zano, zarcanum, zoidberg

TODAY'S SHOW: In part two of Douglas Tuman’s interview with Andrey starts with a discussion about cryptonote white paper author, Nicolas van Saberhagen, aka the Satoshi of Monero, and his potential thoughts on Monero and Zano and what he may think about how the CryptoNote protocol has evolved since inventing it.

The conversation delves into Zano's confidential assets feature and use cases such as creating a privacy-focused stable coin and decentralized bridges for exchanging assets from other blockchains. They also cover regulatory challenges and the project developments that make Monero and Zano censorship resistant.

The Future of Zano and the CryptoNote Protocol w/ Andrey Sabelnikov aka Zoidberg PT1 | EPI 306

April 4th, 2024  |  54 mins 35 secs

andreysabelnikov, bitcoin, blockchain, crypto, cryptocurrency, ethereum, fungible, monero, monerotalk, monerotopia, nicolasvansaberhagen, privacy, privacycoin, proofofstake, xmr, zano, zarcanum, zoidberg

TODAY'S SHOW: In part one of this two part episode, Douglas Tuman interviews Andrey Sabelnikov (aka Zoidberg) who worked alongside cryptonote inventor Nicolas Van Saberhagen as the lead developer of the first implementation of the Cryptonote protocol and who went on to create Zano — which can most simply be categorized as a privacy coin version of Ethereum.

Andrey discusses the recent breakthrough enhancements Zano has implemented with its most recent hardfork, Zarcanum. They discuss many new concepts related to Monero and Zano including the concept of confidential assets and private proof-of-stake consensus, and the bold claim that Monero will one day become proof of stake. Andrey even mentions recent conversations with Nicolas Van Saberhagen regarding his take on proof of stake and Monero in general.

Andrey Sabelnikv aka Cryptozoidberg: The Dev on the Cryptonote team that worked with Nicolas van Saberhagen

March 3rd, 2021  |  1 hr 13 mins

andreysabelnikov, bitcoin, blockchain, boolberry, crypto, cryptocurrency, cryptonote, cryptozoidberg, decentralized, monero, moneronews, privacy, privacycoin, technology, xmr, xmrnews, zanoproject

TODAY'S 🎙SHOW: Douglas Tuman interviews Andrey Sabelnikov, aka Cryptozoidberg founder of the Zano Project and apparent primary dev on the very earliest Cryptonote code.

They discuss his journey into the cryptocurrency space, his role in working with Nicolas van Saberhagen on the first implementation of crypto note in the form of Bytecoin, and his relationship with the Monero project.

Perhaps most positive in terms of Monero was Andrey discussing his admiration of the Monero researchers and the size of the monero community. Despite his mixed feelings about how he was treated by the Monero devs in the early days, he now has respect for the progress the project has made.

While we can’t verify the veracity of everything Andrey said, it all seemed very genuine and we have been told by some monero OGs that cryptozoidberg was involved in the earliest days of cryptonote. We hope to continue conversation with him and who knows...maybe he will work on Monero one day too.