Attack Details: Developer Laptop Compromised, $36 Million Stolen
According to The Block, Humanity Protocol recently suffered a severe security incident. Founder Terence Kwok revealed that the attack was not due to smart contract vulnerabilities but stemmed from a compromised developer laptop. The attacker gained access to a private key held by a member of the Humanity Foundation through a sophisticated phishing email, then minted and dumped tokens across multiple chains via cross-chain bridges. This led to the theft of approximately $36 million from the project's treasury and triggered a panic sell-off of the H token, which plunged roughly 89% at its lowest point.
Low Recovery Odds; Token Migration and Claims Process Underway
Kwok admitted that the chances of recovering the stolen funds are "very low." In response, the team is launching a token migration mechanism along with a compensation claims process. Holders can submit proof of losses through designated channels to receive new tokens or equivalent assets. Additionally, the project has filed reports with law enforcement agencies in Hong Kong and several other jurisdictions in an effort to track down the attackers. While the technical damage from the private key leak cannot be reversed, the team aims to mitigate user losses through centralized governance measures.
Pivot from Identity+Blockchain to Enterprise AI
The hack has served as a catalyst for a major strategic pivot. Kwok stated that Humanity Protocol will move away from its original “identity + blockchain” positioning and instead focus on enterprise-grade AI products. Specifically, the team plans to provide identity verification and asset certification solutions for artificial intelligence companies, leveraging blockchain's immutability to serve as trust infrastructure for AI training data, model ownership, and other critical assets. This transition marks a shift from a decentralized identity platform targeting general users to a more vertical, compliance-oriented market centered on commercial AI applications. The technical roadmap and tokenomics for the new product have not yet been disclosed, but the team promises to share more details in the coming months.