An unidentified hacker group has caused chaos in the cryptocurrency world by stealing over $100 million from Harmony, a Californian cryptocurrency firm. The company revealed the shocking news in a Twitter thread last Thursday, disclosing that the theft took place on the Horizon bridge, resulting in a massive loss.
Harmony has wasted no time in taking action, stating that they are collaborating with national authorities and forensic experts to track down the perpetrators and recover the stolen funds. In an effort to be transparent, the company shared the cryptocurrency address of the malicious actor and assured customers that the remaining funds on its blockchain are secure.
To prevent further transactions, Harmony informed exchanges of the theft and halted the Horizon bridge. The team is fully focused on investigating the incident and keeping the public informed of any developments. They also offered a $1 million reward for the return of the Horizon bridge funds and promised not to pursue criminal charges if the funds are returned.
Founder Stephen Tse emphasized the importance of confidentiality in maintaining the integrity of the ongoing investigation. While no evidence of a breach in smart contract code or vulnerabilities on the Horizon platform was found, the team discovered that private keys were compromised, leading to the breach of the bridge and the theft of assets including BUSD, USDC, ETH, and WBTC.
The Harmony hack is just one of many cryptocurrency thefts that have occurred in 2022. In February, attackers stole over $320 million worth of Ethereum tokens from the cross-blockchain bridge Wormhole. In April, online fraudsters made nearly $1.7 million by promising cryptocurrency giveaways on YouTube. Most recently, cryptocurrency mixing service Blender.io faced US government sanctions for alleged ties to North Korean hackers responsible for a $620 million crypto theft in March.
As the investigation into the Harmony hack continues, the company remains committed to safeguarding its platform and ensuring the security of its users’ funds. Stay tuned for updates as the situation unfolds.