Balancer, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol operating on the Ethereum blockchain, issued a strict warning to its community on September 19, 2023, at 11:49 p.m. UTC, urging users to avoid using its platform’s user interface due to a suspected security breach. The protocol’s team is actively investigating the incident but has not yet provided official details regarding whether user funds were compromised.
However, Balancer contributor Cosme Fulanito reportedly assured the community that Balancer’s vault remains secure and unaffected by the breach. Despite these reassurances, blockchain security firm PeckShield and blockchain analyst ZachXBT estimate that the attackers managed to steal at least $238,000 worth of cryptocurrencies.
As of now, the users who visit the Balancer website are greeted with a warning sign, emphasizing the severity of the situation.
This unfortunate incident marks the second attack on Balancer in less than a month. The protocol had previously alerted its users to a critical vulnerability on August 22, which ultimately led to an estimated $2 million exploit just days later. In response to the August incident, Balancer’s team took mitigation measures that substantially reduced the risks. However, the protocol emphasized that affected pools could not be paused, and to prevent further exploits, users were advised to withdraw their funds from these affected liquidity pools.
In a recent report by Todayq News on August 8, 2023, the DeFi sector suffered significant losses of $389.82 million due to hacks and exploits on platforms like Arcadia Finance, Curve Finance, and Multichain. However, if we talk about overall losses from exploits, hacks, and scams, the overall losses for this year reached nearly $1 billion, as reported by Todayq News on September 1, 2023.
The recent security breach raises concerns about the ongoing vulnerability of DeFi protocols and the importance of rigorous security measures in the blockchain space. Balancer’s team continues to investigate the incident and will likely provide further updates as more information becomes available. Users are strongly encouraged to exercise caution and refrain from using the Balancer platform until the situation is fully resolved.