The Harmony (ONE) team has officially released two proposals to decommission its Layer 1 mainnet, which has been operational since 2019, in favor of a strategic pivot toward an AI-driven video "remix economy." This transition involves migrating the network's native utility token, ONE, to the Ethereum blockchain as an ERC-20 asset. According to the development team, the decision is driven by the escalating security threats posed by state-level attackers and the rapid evolution of autonomous AI agents, which have compromised the long-term viability of the current standalone network infrastructure.
The ONE Token Migration Strategy
The proposed transition involves a comprehensive snapshot of the Harmony blockchain at its final block. This snapshot will record all user wallet balances, staking delegations, validator rewards, and tokens held within centralized exchanges. Following the snapshot, new ONE tokens will be distributed via airdrop to the corresponding wallet addresses on Ethereum, eliminating the need for manual claims by individual holders.
- Supply and Inflation: The total supply of ONE and its existing inflation rate will remain unchanged.
- Governance Treasuries: Delegated stakes and unclaimed rewards will be redirected to governance treasuries.
- Smart Contract Limitations: Multi-signature wallets, liquidity pools, and other on-chain applications cannot be automatically migrated due to technical incompatibilities between the two environments.
Critical Deadlines and Technical Risks
To ensure the safety of user assets, the Harmony team has urged all participants to exit smart contracts and liquidate positions in liquidity pools before September 10, 2026. As the underlying mainnet ceases operations, any assets remaining in decentralized applications (dApps) or locked in complex smart contracts risk becoming inaccessible. The new business model will utilize newly issued tokens to fund the AI video venture, though these allocations remain subject to community governance feedback.
The threats posed by state-level attackers and AI agents are the primary reasons behind the plan to shut down the network.
The shift marks a significant departure from Harmony's original mission as a sharding-based scaling solution. By moving to Ethereum, the project seeks to leverage the security of a more decentralized settlement layer while focusing its development resources on the emerging intersection of generative AI and content creation. This move reflects a growing trend of legacy blockchain projects repositioning themselves to remain competitive in a rapidly changing technological landscape.
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