Balancer Temporarily Halts Operations After $120M Crypto Heist
Balancer, a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform, has temporarily paused operations in affected pools following a cyberattack. The incident, which occurred on Monday, resulted in a significant loss of cryptocurrency.
The hackers managed to steal millions of dollars worth of crypto, with over $120 million lost, including at least $99 million in ETH. Balancer has warned users about fraudulent messages purporting to be from their security team.
The incident was traced back to faulty access control mechanisms. Balancer has had several minor security incidents in the past and has undergone multiple audits, around 10 times, to strengthen its security measures.
This attack comes amidst a wave of cybercrimes targeting DeFi platforms. In the first half of 2025 alone, hackers stole more than $2 billion in crypto. Last week, Garden Finance, another DeFi platform, lost about $10.8 million to hackers. Several other blockchain organizations have taken emergency measures to protect user assets and froze some stolen funds.
Balancer is currently investigating the incident and has paused affected pools. The platform joins a growing list of DeFi victims in 2025, with North Korea's government allegedly responsible for stealing at least $1.65 billion in crypto from January to September. As the crypto landscape evolves, so must the security measures to protect user assets.
