Balancer DeFi Protocol Recovers $19.3 Million Hours After Hack

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NEW YORK, Nov 2025 – Decentralized finance platform Balancer said it recovered $19.3 million in stolen cryptocurrency only hours after a major exploit that targeted its liquidity pools. Blockchain data and project statements confirmed the event. Analysts called the Balancer DeFi hack recovery one of the fastest and most effective responses in decentralized finance.

Blockchain analytics firms PeckShield and BlockSec said the attack began early Monday. The exploit drained liquidity from Balancer’s V2 Composable Stable Pools across several blockchains. Initial estimates showed total losses above $128 million before part of the funds was traced and secured, according to on-chain reports.

Balancer confirmed the incident on social platform X. Its engineering and security teams said they were “investigating with high priority.”
Blockchain tracker Nansen and liquid-staking provider StakeWise said about 5,041 osETH tokens worth around $19.3 million were recovered through a smart contract under StakeWise control.

.@Balancer potentially exploited.

$70.9M moved to a fresh wallet. Tokens moved:
– 6.85K $OSETH
– 6.59K $WETH
– 4.26K $wSTETH pic.twitter.com/kk1hnjmcIW

— Nansen 🧭 (@nansen_ai) November 3, 2025

Investigators said the attacker used complex swap routes to exploit a flaw in pool contracts. The funds moved through multiple wallets and into Tornado Cash and other mixers to hide their trail. White-hat hackers intercepted the transfers within hours and redirected the tokens to a recovery vault.

Balancer said the exploit targeted V2 Composable Stable Pools only. Its V3 and other pool types were unaffected. The team isolated all affected pools and began working with external auditors. They also announced a 20 percent bounty for voluntary fund return.

Data from DeFiLlama showed Balancer’s total value locked (TVL) fell from about $442 million on Nov. 2 to $214 million a day later. The BAL token dropped nearly 4 percent as traders assessed the damage. Liquidity providers posted mixed reactions on X and Discord, with some praising the swift recovery and others criticizing weak safeguards.

Analysts said the rapid response may help restore confidence. “The speed of recovery matters,” one blockchain security researcher said. “How the post-mortem unfolds will decide trust.”

The recovery happened in a difficult year for decentralized finance. Data from Chainalysis and DeFiLlama shows DeFi exploits have cost billions in 2025, with an average recovery rate below 50 percent. Analysts noted Balancer’s swift redemption distinguishes it from previous failures like Curve Finance, Euler Finance, and Ronin Bridge, where restitution took weeks or never came.

“For Balancer, turning the tide so quickly may redefine what a rescue looks like in decentralized finance,” another analyst said.

Experts said the case highlights the need for layered smart-contract defenses and coordinated incident response. Despite audits and bug-bounty programs, vulnerabilities remain. “Even the most audited protocols can fail under stress,” a security advisor said. “What matters is coordination and speed.”

Balancer said it will publish a detailed post-mortem once investigations close. Security experts added that further recovery is possible if the attacker accepts the white-hat bounty. The team called the incident a lesson in cooperation between developers, auditors, and ethical hackers.

Recap:

• $19.3 million recovered within hours of exploit
• Attack targeted Balancer V2 Composable Stable Pools
• White-hat coordination credited for fast retrieval
• BAL token dropped 4 percent after the incident
• Seen as a benchmark for Balancer DeFi hack recovery and crisis response