Harmony proposes shutting down its L1 mainnet and migrating ONE token to Ethereum following a $4B unauthorized token mint exploit in August.
Security & Exploits ·
Harmony has announced plans to discontinue its Layer 1 mainnet and transition its ONE token to Ethereum, citing security risks from state actors and AI agents. The decision follows an August incident in which approximately 4 billion ONE tokens were minted without authorization. Under the proposal, existing ONE holders will receive replacement tokens via airdrop on Ethereum with no action required; however, users must withdraw from all smart contracts by September 10, 2026, as multisig safes, liquidity pools, and onchain applications cannot be migrated to the new chain.
The transition includes a compensation structure for validators who sunset their nodes on schedule and maintain their stakes. Harmony outlined a $1.372 million pool to reimburse validators for reward differences between their final blocks and the network's shutdown, matching emissions from the year preceding the August 11 security incident. Validators may alternatively pivot to roles as governors or participate in a new initiative called "The Remix Economy for AI Video," which will offer subsidies for GPU hardware and potential revenue generation in its first year.
The snapshot for token distribution will capture balances held in user wallets, staking delegations, validator rewards, and centralized exchanges. The team plans to publish the new ERC-20 contract, governor vault contract, snapshot calculations, and airdrop scripts for public review. The ONE token's total supply and emission schedule will remain unchanged, with future emissions directed toward the AI video initiative subject to governor input.