Harmony ONE Token Falls 37% Following Unauthorized 4 Billion Token Mint
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Written by
Simonas Brazionis - Updated 2026-08-13 12:12:32
Layer-1 blockchain Harmony confirmed an exploit involving the unauthorized minting of approximately 4 billion ONE tokens. This incident led to a 37% decline in the token's value, dropping to about $0.00077, and the minted tokens represent roughly 26% of the total supply.
On-chain analyst Juiceberg first identified the unauthorized minting, noting the tokens were created through empty blocks. Approximately 2.8 billion of these tokens were subsequently transferred to exchanges as the price of ONE fell.
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Details of the Exploit and Harmony's Response
Juiceberg further reported that the attacker retained about 115 million ONE tokens, approximately 2.9% of the total minted amount, for potential on-chain sale. The analyst indicated that the majority, around 97%, of the minted tokens had already reached exchanges, either sold or held in deposit wallets.
Harmony responded by announcing collaboration with its team and exchanges to halt and freeze the compromised funds. The protocol also stated it was developing a patch and evaluating options for a rollback. Harmony later provided four wallet addresses, requesting exchanges to block related transactions.
Technical Measures and Unanswered Questions
Following these announcements, Harmony paused its bridge and released a patch, instructing validators to upgrade to prevent further unauthorized minting. The protocol noted an additional update would be needed to address already created tokens. The specific vulnerability, exact number of minted tokens, and total amount reaching exchanges have not yet been disclosed.
An anomaly noted by Juiceberg was that Harmony's totalSupply endpoint did not reflect the newly minted tokens, and price trackers continued to report the circulating supply at approximately 14.87 billion.
Potential Rollback and Past Security Incidents
The possibility of a chain rollback would revert the network to a state prior to the exploit, nullifying subsequent transactions, including those by legitimate users. This incident follows a June 2022 security breach where hackers exploited Harmony's Horizon cross-chain bridge, resulting in a $100 million loss, attributed by the FBI to the Lazarus Group.
Harmony's initial reimbursement proposal for the 2022 hack involved minting new tokens and a hard fork, later revised to use treasury funds. The ONE token currently has a market capitalization of approximately $11.5 million, ranking outside the top 1,000, and trades more than 99% below its October 2021 record of $0.38.
