Balancer Safety Incident: $70M Stolen in Historic ETH DeFi Attack
One of the foremost Decentralized finance platforms on ETH, Balancer, which also operates as a renowned automated market maker (AMM) within the ecosystem, experienced a major exploit today (November 3), leading to losses surpassing $70 million.
On-chain metrics indicate that several Balancer liquidity pools were compromised in quick succession, with the hijacked tokens swiftly transferred to a newly established wallet belonging to the attacker.
We are aware of a possible hack affecting Balancer v2 pools.
Our engineering and security teams are prioritizing the investigation.
We will provide verified updates and subsequent actions as soon as further information is available.
— Balancer (@Balancer) November 3, 2025
What We Know About the Balancer Hack Up to This Point
The incident targeted Balancer’s V2 vaults and available volume pools, taking advantage of a weakness in smart contract interactions. Early assessments by on-chain analysts suggest a malicious contract that manipulated Vault calls during pool setup.
Flawed authorization and callback processes enabled the attacker to circumvent protective measures. This facilitated unauthorized swaps or balance alterations across intertwined pools, leading to the swift depletion of resources.
The attacker commenced a series of transactions starting with a key Ethereum mainnet transaction (0xd155207261712c35fa3d472ed1e51bfcd816e616dd4f517fa5959836f5b48569), which redirected assets to a newly controlled wallet. The funds were then likely aggregated for laundering through mixers or bridges.
Balancer’s modular design, where pools are heavily interconnected, intensified the vulnerability. Similar issues have historically affected AMMs, often related to their approach toward deflationary tokens or pool rebalancing.
Complete forensic insights are still developing, with auditors such as PeckShield and Nansen involved. There is currently no evidence indicating a compromise of private keys; the vulnerability breach was purely a smart contract issue.
The rapid execution of these transfers implies that the attacker had an extensive understanding of Balancer’s smart contracts, potentially capitalizing on a flaw in how the network processes swaps or governs pool balances.
DISCOVER: The 12+ Hottest Crypto Presales to Buy Right Now
Balancer Responds, Community in Uncertainty
As of this writing, Balancer has shared one news, confirming the exploit and assuring the community that an investigation is in progress. The DeFi platform’s post on X states:
“We’re aware of a potential vulnerability breach impacting Balancer v2 pools. Our engineering and protection teams are investigating with high priority. We’ll share verified updates and next steps as soon as we have more information.”
The limited communication has heightened uncertainty in the Decentralized finance space as users rush to comprehend the extent and origin of the breach.
Blockchain experts have advised traders to abstain from engaging with Balancer pools until more information becomes available, cautioning that further vulnerabilities might still exist.
In the meantime, Balancer’s native crypto token, BAL, has dropped by over 15% in the last 24 hours, impacted by both volatile crypto market conditions and crypto holder anxiety surrounding the recent eight-figure vulnerability breach.
Alarmingly, this is not Balancer’s inaugural confrontation with hackers. The protocol has faced three significant safety breaches in five years, presenting a troubling track ledger for one of DeFi’s most established protocols.
In 2020, attackers manipulated Balancer’s management of deflationary tokens, depleting around $500,000. Then, in 2023, another flaw in its “boosted pools” resulted in $900,000 of losses despite prior protection alerts.
This latest $70 million attack outstrips those earlier incidents, marking Balancer’s most severe breach to date and one of the largest Decentralized finance hacks of 2025.
DISCOVER: 15+ Upcoming Coinbase Listings to Watch in 2025
Announcement on the Balancer Hack: Additional Funds Drained Across Various Networks
Update: @Balancer and its forks are under attack, with total losses across multiple chains reaching approximately $128.64 million thus far. https://t.co/67XGX5RcRR pic.twitter.com/FIwx20ALSz
— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) November 3, 2025
Various distributed database analysts have recently updated about the Balancer breach. Currently, more than $128 million has been siphoned off by the hacker across multiple chains where the Balancer network is forked.
Over $99 million has been pilfered from ETH, while $12.8 million has been skimmed from Berachain, $6.8 million from Arbitrum, $3.9 million from Base, $3.4 million from Sonic, $1.58 million from Optimism, and $232,000 from Polygon.
The hack on smaller networks indicates a considerable share of the network’s TVL (Total Value Locked). For instance, according to DefiLlama, Sonic currently holds only $150 million in TVL and has lost $3.4 million, roughly 2% of the overall value locked on the protocol.
From a public perception standpoint, it is concerning that the attack seems to be ongoing, with more assets being lost as we speak, and no updates from the Balancer team since 10:00 UTC.
EXPLORE: Best Meme Crypto token ICOs to Invest in 2025
Join The 99Bitcoins Announcement Discord Here For The Latest Market Updates
The post Balancer Hack: $70M Lost in Database Ethereum Decentralized finance Breach appeared first on 99Bitcoins.
