Harpie, an on-chain firewall provider backed by Coinbase Ventures and OpenSea, has ceased operations after failing to establish a sustainable business model.
The company aimed to protect crypto users from hacks, scams, and wallet theft and announced its shutdown in an X thread on March 27.
Despite its efforts to create a “theft-free crypto ecosystem,” Harpie acknowledged that sustaining the business was not feasible. In its statement, the firm expressed hope that its work had made an impact and would inspire others to continue tackling crypto security challenges.
Effective immediately, Harpie’s services have been deactivated, and users were advised to disconnect their wallets from the Harpie RPC using their wallet’s network switcher. The company assured users that a utility would soon be available on its website to facilitate the movement of any vaulted assets.
“If your transactions are failing, please disconnect your wallets from the Harpie RPC via your wallet’s network switcher. We will be creating a utility to move vaulted assets on the Harpie website in the coming days,”
the announcement stated.
Harpie also confirmed that it would honour all pending giveaways and referral rewards despite shutting down.
The decision to close down comes nearly three years after Harpie secured $4.5 million in funding, led by Dragonfly Capital, with support from Coinbase Ventures and OpenSea. Initially, the company charged a 7% fee on recovered assets but later transitioned to a fixed fee of 0.01 ETH per asset, regardless of value.
Meanwhile, OpenSea users are facing security concerns due to a data breach in 2022, where over 7 million email addresses have recently become public, as reported by SlowMist. The leaked data has been circulated before becoming public, heightening the risk of phishing and malicious activities. Notably, the breach includes email addresses of prominent figures in the crypto industry, including former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, along with companies and influencers.
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