Balancer and Forked Protocols Hit by $79 Million Multi-Chain Exploit
The DeFi protocol confirmed a major breach targeting long-standing V2 Composable Stable Pools, intensifying losses as Ethereum and Bitcoin fall below key support levels.
Balancer has confirmed a $116 million exploit affecting its V2 Composable Stable Pools, with attackers draining high-value assets including WETH, osETH, and wstETH. The breach, occurring at 7:48 AM UTC, targeted pools outside the pause window, leaving them vulnerable despite halts on others. Balancer V3 and unaffected pools remain operational. The exploiter has begun swapping stolen tokens into ETH, signaling an intent to exit positions fully amid a broader crypto selloff that pushed Ethereum below $3,500 and Bitcoin under $105,000. BAL’s price fell to $0.80, deepening its long-term downtrend and eroding investor confidence.
- Composable Stable Pools: Balancer pools designed to hold multiple stable assets with composable features for advanced DeFi strategies.
- WETH: Wrapped Ether, an ERC-20 token representing Ethereum used in smart contracts and DeFi protocols.
- osETH: A liquid staking derivative representing staked Ether, providing yield while maintaining liquidity.