$100 Million in Cryptocurrency Stolen by Hackers
Tech company Harmony says it is working to retrieve funds and identify who is behind the theft on one of its blockchain bridge
Hackers have stolen roughly $100 million in cryptocurrency from a blockchain bridge, technology company Harmony said Thursday.
Harmony, which hosts the Horizon bridge that allows users to send crypto between different blockchains, said on Twitter it is working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and forensic specialists to identify who is behind the theft.
The company said it is working to retrieve stolen funds.
“We have also notified exchanges and stopped the Horizon bridge to prevent further transactions,” Harmony said. “The team is all hands on deck as investigations continue.”
Hackers have targeted blockchain bridges in the past.
In March, hackers infiltrated part of a popular online game’s cryptocurrency network, stealing more than $500 million worth of crypto. And in the largest crypto hack of all time, hackers last year stole more than $600 million worth of crypto from Poly Network, a decentralized finance platform, before returning the funds.
Decentralized financial systems incurred at least $10.5 billion in losses in 2021 due to crime, according to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic Inc., an estimate that includes stolen funds and price drops in crypto offered by systems that were hacked.
Representatives for Harmony and the FBI didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Harmony shared on Twitter the account identification of what it says is the culprit. The balance of the account Friday morning was 85,867.27 ether, or roughly $104 million. Harmony said the hack doesn’t affect its bitcoin bridge.
Harmony describes itself as an open, secure and fast blockchain with $1.1 billion in crypto locked on-chain.