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Balancer recovered $4.1 million from its own vulnerable smart contracts Wednesday after discovering a new exploit in its V2 vault system, deploying white hat hackers to drain funds before malicious actors could access them.
The defensive operation comes just weeks after an unrelated November attack that cost the decentralized exchange protocol $116 million, with affected V2 pools now deprecated and users urged to migrate to V3.
Balancer’s decentralized platform uncovered flaws in its V2 meta-stable pools, leading to the urgent activation of a white hat hack recovery. Affected pools are now deprecated, with users advised to transition to V3 alternatives exhibiting stronger security features.
“The quick identification and mitigation via white hat hacking demonstrates Balancer’s proactive security stance,” said a blockchain security analyst at Cipher Trace.
Despite Balancer’s defensive measures, the exploiter continues to move funds with wallets reportedly holding over $21 million in ETH and assorted assets.
“Balancer hack highlights both the risks inherent in DeFi and the critical need for continuous monitoring of suspicious wallet activity,” commented an expert from ChainAlysis.
Post-hack, Balancer’s liquidity stands at just over $322 million, reflecting a significant decline yet stabilizing at pre-2021 bull market levels. The BAL token has dipped to near yearly lows, trading at $0.81, signaling market concerns.
A blockchain security analyst stated, “The Balancer hack serves as a reminder that even established protocols must maintain rigorous security audits and swift incident responses to preserve trust.”
The Balancer hack incident has renewed fears about common exploit patterns within DeFi, as recent attacks exposed overlooked smart contract flaws despite multiple security audits.
Experts call for continuous improvements in protocol security to prevent recurring incidents and protect investor confidence.
