Hackers stole $128 million from decentralized finance protocol Balancer, Bloomberg reported Monday (Nov. 3), citing findings from security researchers at PeckShield and Cyvers.
Balancer confirmed the exploit in a post on the social platform X, saying its engineering and security teams are investigating the incident with “high priority.”
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
“The ongoing drain likely stems from a compromise of access control mechanisms within the protocol, allowing the attackers to manipulate balances directly,” Cyvers CEO Deddy Lavid said in a message, per Bloomberg. “The Balancer team is still attempting to re-establish control, which explains why the exploit continues.”
Balancer, which has been active since 2020, holds more than $350 million in value in Ethereum alone, The Block reported Monday.
The incident comes in the closing stretch of a year that has seen a surge in crypto crime, largely driven by the historic $1.5 billion hack against crypto exchange ByBit earlier this year.
“With over $2.17 billion stolen from cryptocurrency services so far in 2025, this year is more devastating than the entirety of 2024,” blockchain intelligence company Chainalysis wrote in its 2025 Crypto Crime Mid-Year Update. “By the end of June 2025, 17% more value had been stolen year-to-date than in 2022, previously the worst year on record. If current trends continue, stolen funds from services could eclipse $4 billion by year’s end.”
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The report found that personal wallet compromises now make up a growing share of total ecosystem theft. Attackers are increasingly targeting individual users, accounting for 23.35% of all stolen funds activity as of mid-year.
In addition, the report also found a correlation between “wrench attacks,” or physical violence or coercion against crypto holders, and movements in the price of bitcoin. This suggests “opportunistic targeting during high-value periods.”
Meanwhile, blockchain is being increasingly integrated into mainstream financial services thanks in part to the shifting policies of the U.S. government, and the fact that stablecoins are showing potential as the infrastructure foundation of payments, treasury, international flows and the digitization of national currencies.
“While marketplace momentum is building, from a risk and regulatory perspective, stablecoins remain under scrutiny,” PYMNTS reported Friday (Oct. 31). “Regulators are increasingly focused on financial stability, consumer protection, anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) concerns, and the boundary between tokens and deposits.”
