Hackers Drain $120M From Ethereum DeFi Protocol Balancer

Leading Ethereum-based DeFi protocol Balancer has become the latest victim of a hack, with attackers draining nearly $120 million from its vaults. 

Several blockchain analytics platforms, including Lookonchain and PeckShieldAlert, have called the public’s attention to the incident. While Lookonchain reports that $116.63 million worth of crypto assets were siphoned from Balancer Vault, PeckShieldAlert puts the figure at around $128.64 million. 

Assets Stolen 

According to data from Lookonchain, the attackers hold approximately $99.5 million of the stolen assets on the Ethereum blockchain, accounting for about 85% of the total loot. The remaining funds have been distributed across other networks, including Arbitrum ($7.9 million), Base ($3.9 million), Sonic ($3.4 million), OP Mainnet ($1.5 million), and Polygon ($231,000).

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The stolen assets comprise a mix of liquid tokens and staked derivatives, including Lido (stETH), Frax, Rocket Pool (rETH), and Balancer V2 pool tokens. 

Meanwhile, data from Etherscan highlights some of the token transfers, including 6,851 osETH, 6,587 WETH, and 4,259 wstETH. These assets were transferred from Balancer Vault to an address now labeled as ‘Balancer Exploiter 2.’

The tokens were still held in the attackers’ addresses as of press time. 

Balancer Confirms Hack 

Taking to X, the Balancer team confirmed the incident, stating that the exploit affected its Balancer V2 Pools. The team noted that its security and engineering divisions have launched a high-priority investigation into the breach, while promising to share verified updates once accurate information is confirmed. 

In the meantime, Balancer warned users to avoid clicking on links in the comment or reply sections, cautioning that scammers might attempt to exploit the situation through phishing attacks. 

We’re aware of a potential exploit impacting Balancer v2 pools.

Our engineering and security teams are investigating with high priority.

We’ll share verified updates and next steps as soon as we have more information.

— Balancer (@Balancer) November 3, 2025

3-Year Dormant Whale Withdraws Over $6M Assets from Balancer 

As expected, the attack has sparked widespread concern in the crypto community. Amid the incident, a whale address that had been dormant for over three years suddenly became active, withdrawing approximately $6.5 million from Balancer in two separate transactions.

The first transfer involved $1.29 million worth of WETH, while the second moved $5.19 million worth of GNO. With analysts suggesting that the hack could still be ongoing, Lookonchain urged Balancers users to take action by securing their assets. 

For context, this is not the first time that Balancer has been a victim of a hack. In 2020, attackers stole around $500,000 from the DeFi protocol. It also suffered multiple hacks in 2023, including a flash loan attack in August, which resulted in attackers siphoning off over $2 million in that incident. 

However, the recent hack represents one of the largest Balancer has suffered since its launch in March 2020.