Harmony to Shut Down Layer-1 Blockchain, Migrate ONE Token to Ethereum

Harmony, a blockchain project, has announced plans to shut down its layer-1 blockchain and migrate its native token, ONE, to Ethereum due to repeated security incidents. The decision comes after a series of attacks, including a mass fraudulent minting of ONE tokens caused by a security flaw and the attack on the Horizon cross-chain bridge in June 2022.

The project has set aside $1.37 million in compensation for validators that halt node operations, maintain staking, and transition to governor roles in new projects. Harmony plans to take a snapshot at the network's final block, covering personal wallets, staked delegations, validator rewards, smart contracts, and holdings on centralized exchanges, then airdrop new ONE tokens to the same wallet addresses.

The decision follows a security incident last month where an attacker exploited a vulnerability in the network's cross-shard receipt verification system to fraudulently mint more than 3 trillion ONE tokens. Harmony is also shifting its focus from blockchain development to a new remix economy centered on AI video creators, where creators would publish prompts and content assets, users would remix them, and AI agents would expand them into various videos.