Alert! DeFi Protocol Balancer Hacked for $238,000 in Crypto

‘Web2 is not safe,’ comments Curve Finance, which also fell victim to a cryptocurrency hack resulting in a loss of $52 million at the end of July. Balancer, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol deployed on Ethereum, has reported a recent attack on its frontend resulting in the loss of $238,000 in cryptocurrencies. Thus, the list of DeFi hacks continues to grow. Let’s break it down!

In brief:

• Balancer, a decentralized exchange (DEX) protocol running on Ethereum, fell victim to an attack resulting in the loss of approximately $238,000 in cryptocurrencies.
• Balancer est un protocole DeFi spécialisé dans la création automatique de marchés (AMM) né en 2020

Balancer’s AMM Falls Victim to a Crypto Hack

Following Curve Finance (CRV), Cypher, and Stake.com, hackers have decided to strip Balancer of some cryptocurrencies. And when they plan something, they always seem to get their way.

The explanation from CoinsPaid, which also fell victim to a $37 million attack, about the modus operandi of the Lazarus Group, confirms that crypto hackers have no shortage of tools against the cybersecurity guardians of any crypto project.

Hence the irony of the Curve Finance hacker: ‘I’m smarter than all of you.’

The balancer frontend is under an attack. The issue is currently under investigation. Please do NOT interact with the balancer UI until further notice!

— Balancer (@Balancer) September 19, 2023

Cointelegraph, one of the crypto media outlets covering this attack, didn’t miss Balancer’s call, dated September 19th at 23:49 UTC, to suspend all interaction with this DeFi protocol until further notice.

At the moment, no communication has been made regarding the status of users’ crypto funds. However, Balancer contributor Cosme Fulanito clarified that Balancer’s vault was not affected by the attack.

As for the amount of funds hacked, PeckShield reported that it caused Balancer, the issuer of the crypto BAL, to lose approximately $238,000 in cryptocurrencies. And this is only a preliminary assessment.

#PeckShieldAlert @Balancer has reported that its frontend under an attack, ~$238k worth of cryptos were stolen https://t.co/aAaj0Xqery pic.twitter.com/YDIjfnNYM4

— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) September 20, 2023

Any impact on the price of BAL, Balancer’s native cryptocurrency? So far, this crypto hacking has had little effect on the token’s price. However, we’ve observed a slight 1.8% decrease in the past 24 hours. At the time of writing this article, BAL was trading at $3.27 per token.

DeFi, Crypto Thefts, and Decline

Balancer, the new crypto hack victim mentioned above, is described by Kraken as a DeFi protocol deployed on Ethereum. Its goal is to promote the operation of DEX, using a distributed network of computers for the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies.

As an AMM, Balancer allows the creation of so-called ‘Balancer pools.’ This way, crypto investors can easily access digital assets held in their wallets.

The more a trader deposits cryptocurrencies into a Balancer pool, the greater the chances of earning rewards in BAL tokens and a share of trading fees.