Balancer Hack Becomes One of 2025’s Largest DeFi Exploits, Losses Top $128M

Balancer, a leading decentralized finance protocol, was struck by a massive exploit, draining millions in assets across several blockchains.

Blockchain analytics firm Nansen earlier reported that the platform had been exploited, with about $70.9 million in assets including OSETH, WETH, and wSTETH moved to a new wallet.

Losses Cross $128 Million 

However, According to Peckshield, a blockchain security and analytics firm, the total losses has now reached roughly $128.64 million across multiple chains, including Ethereum, Berachain, Arbitrum, Base, Sonic, Optimism, and Polygon.

The Berachain Foundation shared that its validators have intentionally paused the network while the team carries out an emergency hard fork to fix issues linked to the recent Balancer v2 exploit on its BEX platform. The network is expected to resume normal operations once recovery efforts are complete.

Meanwhile, Lookonchain reported that a large wallet which had been inactive for three years, suddenly became active following the Balancer hack. 

The wallet holder quickly withdrew around $6.5 million from the platform in response to the ongoing attack. Lookonchain also warned other users with funds still on Balancer to act immediately and secure their assets.

Balancer Confirms Investigation 

The Balancer team has also acknowledged the potential exploit impacting Balancer v2 pools. 

It shared that its engineering and security teams are actively looking into the issue as a top priority. Balancer also assured users that it will share verified updates and guidance once more information becomes available.

Investor Ted Pillows warned users to stay cautious and avoid interacting with the affected pools until the situation is resolved.

This is not the first time Balancer faced a breach. 

In 2020, hackers exploited a flaw in how Balancer handled deflationary tokens, where around $500,000 worth of assets were drained. In 2023, another vulnerability in its boosted pools was exploited, resulting in more losses.

Nevertheless, the latest attack stands out as Balancer’s biggest hack yet and one of the largest DeFi exploits of 2025. 

This incident highlights that DeFi platforms remain vulnerable, even with growing oversight and better security systems in place. 

Following the news of the exploit, Balancer’s governance token BALUSDT saw a sharp decline, dropping over 8% in the past 24 hours to around $0.91.

FAQs

PeckShield confirms $128.64M gone—$99M on Ethereum alone, plus hits on Arbitrum, Base, and five more chains. Biggest DeFi drain of 2025.

NO—v2 pools are still bleeding. Revoke ALL approvals at revokecash or deba nk, then move funds to your wallet. Do it in the next 10 mins.

Only old v2 boosted pools (WETH, osETH, wstETH) are hacked. All v3 pools are 100% safe—check your dashboard and migrate now.

1. Revoke at revoke.cash

2. Withdraw to wallet

3. Watch Balancer for the official refund link.

A 3-year-dormant whale just saved $6.5M doing this.