Harmony, the once-prominent Ethereum competitor that raised significant capital during the last crypto boom, is now proposing to voluntarily shut down its blockchain, with developers citing mounting security threats from AI agents and state-backed actors as the reason.
A Retreat Driven by Security Fears
The team behind Harmony has floated a plan to wind down the network entirely, arguing that defending the chain has grown too difficult in an environment where sophisticated adversaries and increasingly capable AI tools can probe for vulnerabilities. Developers pointed to the risks posed by state actors and autonomous AI agents as key factors making the ongoing operation of the blockchain untenable.
Harmony has a fraught history with security. The project suffered one of the industry's more painful exploits when its Horizon bridge was drained of hundreds of millions of dollars, an incident later linked to hackers with ties to North Korea. That episode dealt a lasting blow to the network's reputation and to the value of its ONE token.
The developers argue that keeping the chain alive has simply become too dangerous in an age of AI-powered attackers.
From Blockchain to AI Video
Rather than continuing to maintain the network, the developers want to redirect ONE token emissions toward funding a new venture focused on AI-generated video. The pivot reflects a broader trend of crypto teams chasing artificial intelligence narratives as enthusiasm for older layer-1 blockchains has cooled.
The proposal would represent a dramatic reinvention for a project that once marketed itself as a scalable, low-cost alternative to Ethereum. At its peak, Harmony attracted substantial investor interest and touted its sharding technology as a solution to blockchain congestion.
Key elements of the plan include:
- Voluntarily halting the Harmony blockchain
- Citing AI agents and state actors as security threats
- Channeling ONE emissions into an AI video business
Any decision to shut the network down would likely require buy-in from the broader community and token holders, who have watched the project's fortunes decline sharply since its early hype cycle. Whether the pivot to AI video can restore value remains an open question as the team seeks a new direction.