Harmony Migrates to Ethereum
Harmony Proposes Shutting Down Layer-1 Blockchain and Migrating ONE Token to Ethereum
Anonymous
Key Points
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The proposed shutdown must pass Harmony’s validator-led governance process: at least 51% of total stake weight must participate, with 66.7% support required. Elected validators can submit proposals, and the process includes a seven-day introduction period followed by a 14-day voting window.
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The recent security response included a proposed rollback that would erase more than 109,000 legitimate transactions, a consequence that appears to have helped shift Harmony from repairing the network toward abandoning it as an independent blockchain.
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Harmony said the cross-shard receipt-verification vulnerability allowed an attacker to fraudulently mint more than 3 trillion ONE tokens across six unauthorized issuance rounds.
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Delegated stakes and unclaimed validator rewards would be routed into governance-controlled vaults or treasuries during the migration, rather than simply being returned to the holders’ individual wallets.
Harmony is proposing to shut down its layer-1 blockchain, launched in 2019, and migrate its native ONE token to Ethereum as an ERC-20 asset, according to CryptoRank. The nonbinding plan would snapshot balances at the network's final block and airdrop replacement tokens to the same Ethereum addresses, keeping total supply and emissions unchanged. The decision follows a critical security exploit that allegedly enabled the creation of over 3 trillion unauthorized ONE tokens, prompting consideration of a damaging network rollback that would have erased more than 109,000 legitimate transactions.
The proposal must pass Harmony's validator-led governance process, requiring at least 51% participation of total stake weight and 66.7% approval. If approved, users have until September 10, 2026 to withdraw assets from multisig safes, liquidity pools and onchain applications, which cannot be automatically migrated. Validators could shut down their nodes, become governors or join a proposed AI-video initiative, with about $1.37 million allocated for eligible participants who support the transition.
How the Migration Would Work
Exchange holdings, wallets, staking delegations and validator rewards would be included automatically in the airdrop, Crypto.news reported. However, delegated stakes and unclaimed validator rewards would be routed into governance-controlled vaults or treasuries instead of being returned directly to individual wallets. Users with assets in multisig safes, liquidity pools and decentralized applications must manually withdraw those funds before the September 10, 2026 deadline, as these holdings cannot be migrated to Ethereum.
Security Breach Exposed Billions in Fake Tokens
Harmony identified a cross-shard receipt-verification vulnerability that allowed an attacker to fraudulently mint more than 3 trillion ONE tokens across six unauthorized issuance rounds. The exploit exposed the network to what AltcoinBuzz described as a threat from state actors. Rather than attempt to repair the vulnerability through a network rollback—which would have destroyed over 109,000 legitimate transactions—Harmony decided abandoning its layer-1 blockchain was the better path forward.
Validator Options and Governance Timeline
Harmony's validators face three options: shut down their nodes, transition to governing the ONE token on Ethereum, or join a new AI-video initiative. About $1.37 million is allocated for eligible validators who support the shutdown. The governance process requires a seven-day introduction period followed by a 14-day voting window, according to NewsCord. However, no final-block date has been set, and the proposal remains nonbinding pending the completion of the governance process.
What Gets Left Behind
Assets stored in multisig wallets, decentralized exchange liquidity pools and onchain smart contracts cannot be migrated to Ethereum and will be effectively abandoned. CryptoRank warned that users must withdraw these holdings by the September 10, 2026 deadline. The migration prioritizes simple token balances and staking rewards, leaving complex onchain positions to fend for themselves in what effectively becomes a seven-year-old network's final months.
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