Balancer website hijack puts users at risk

Balancer’s user interface woes follow an exploit last month targeting its liquidity pools

article-image

Vladimir Kazakov/Shutterstock, modified by Blockworks

share

DeFi liquidity protocol Balancer is staring down yet another security vulnerability, this time targeting its user interface. 

The platform issued a notice on social media Tuesday evening, urging users not to interact with the main Balancer UI until further notice as they investigate. Investors and users of Balancer are advised to remain vigilant and await further updates.

Crypto sleuth ZachXBT, revealed on X, formerly Twitter, that the stolen funds are being funneled into a specific Ethereum address. Approximately $238,000 has reportedly been pilfered so far. 

Analysis of the address shows it currently holds 68 ether (ETH) valued at more than $111,000, based on the current ETH price of $1,636.

In the last eight hours, a series of ERC-20 token transfers involving the address labeled “Balancer Attacker” can be viewed from Etherscan, a popular analytics tool. 

Tokens, including Balancer’s native BAL token, liquid staked ether, Aave’s wrapped tokens, and several others, have so far been transferred in and out of the address.

The developments Wednesday follow a series of assaults against the protocol in recent weeks including an exploit of a critical vulnerability in its v2 pools late last month.

Built on the Ethereum blockchain, Balancer functions as both an automated market maker and a liquidity protocol, allowing users to trade tokens directly from its liquidity pools, without the need for a traditional order book.

In recent hours, Balancer’s native token (BAL) has experienced some volatility, though the full extent of the financial fallout remains to be seen. BAL is down 3.2% on the day from a top of $3.44 to $3.27, exchange data shows.

Balancer is not the first DeFi platform to fall victim to a cyber-attack this year. There has been a noticeable uptick in security breaches targeting DeFi projects in recent months, leading to a broader conversation in the industry about the need for enhanced security measures.

The Balancer team said it is currently investigating the issue, and it’s yet unclear how the attackers managed to exploit the system. Blockworks has reached out to learn more.


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Unlocked by Template.png

Research

RTK networks are critical to enabling a world of ubiquitous autonomous drones, vehicles, and industrial robots. We believe the GEOD token enables both a cost and product advantage for the GEODNET RTK network, which will allow it to out-compete multi-billion dollar incumbents Trimble and Hexagon.

article-image

Jack explored the various AI and memecoin projects that have sprung up over the past month

article-image

If gold remains steady today, a single move from bitcoin to $98,500 would do it

article-image

Revenue estimates for the third quarter come in at $33 billion, which would be an 83% increase from the prior year

article-image

Senator Cynthia Lummis hopes a US strategic bitcoin reserve can be teed up for “adoption in 2025”

article-image

As EIP-4844 “blobs” transform the economics of Ethereum layer-2s, a growing debate pits long-term scalability against immediate ETH value

article-image

Prosecutors argued that FTX co-founder Gary Wang cooperated in their case against former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried