Horizon’s US$100 mln crypto hack prompts FBI investigation

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and multiple cybersecurity companies have started investigating the US$100 million hack on Harmony Protocol’s Horizon cross-chain bridge.

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Fast facts

• Harmony Protocol announced it was attacked on Friday morning Asia time, adding it had alerted exchanges of the suspect’s blockchain wallet address and halted the Horizon bridge. 

• The Horizon bridge allows users to transfer cryptocurrencies and assets from Harmony’s layer 1 blockchain to Ethereum, BNB Chain and Bitcoin.
• Harmony Protocol said the exploit did not impact the trustless Bitcoin bridge, where assets are stored in decentralized vaults.

• The theft may have taken place due to a compromised private key, PeckShield — the blockchain security firm tapped by Harmony — chief executive officer Xuxian Jiang reportedly told Bloomberg. 

• The hack on Harmony follows a string of attacks against blockchain bridges like Wormhole and the Ronin Bridge.

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