Harmony Ditches Blockchain Amid AI-Powered Security Threats

Harmony's blockchain is on the verge of being abandoned due to security concerns. The company has proposed ceasing operations and transferring its ONE token to Ethereum, citing the overwhelming threats from state-sponsored hackers and AI agents.

The proposal assigns a cost to what independent chains normally take care of: security. By making ONE an ERC-20 token, Harmony would be relying on the proof-of-stake (PoS) security provided by the Ethereum blockchain, doing away with its validator set.

Holistic analysis of the situation reveals that Harmony is not the first project to quit its stand-alone blockchain. BounceBit discontinued its layer-1 operation in August after the theft of 286.5 million BB and issued the coin anew on the BNB Blockchain.

The effects of Harmony's proposed migration are less about its size but more about what this decision reflects: the economics smaller layer-1s are struggling with. Paying for validators, infrastructure, and security is becoming increasingly difficult to justify as activity and capital decrease.