A large-scale breach at the Balancer decentralized exchange has resulted in a significant loss of funds, estimated to be around $129 million. The attack exploited vulnerabilities within Balancer’s v2 pools and impacted multiple blockchains, including Ethereum, Base, Optimism, Polygon, Sonic, and Berachain. This incident underscores the ongoing risks associated with DeFi security as attackers leveraged sophisticated techniques to exploit smart contracts. Read More: [LINK TO ARTICLE] Key Takeaways:** Initial on-chain data suggests a coordinated operation rather than a single vulnerability. The attack originated from Balancer’s V2 vaults, where permission errors allowed hackers to manipulate internal transactions and bypass safety checks. Security analysts believe the attackers used malicious contracts to intercept vault operations during pool creation, taking advantage of callback processes not properly restricted. This exploit impacted various tokens, including WETH, osETH, wstETH, sfrxETH, and rsETH, most associated with Ethereum’s liquid staking ecosystem. The attack affected several blockchains and led to significant market volatility, impacting Balancer’s native token (BAL), BERA, and liquidity-related tokens like LDO, RPL, and JTO. The breach has highlighted the vulnerability of interlinked DeFi protocols in the face of widespread attacks and the need for enhanced security measures across the entire ecosystem.