How a Tiny Bug Stole $116 Million: Balancer’s Epic Fail

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Ah, the joys of modern finance-where a simple rounding error can unleash chaos on an unsuspecting platform. Balancer, in its infinite wisdom, has uncovered the “root cause” behind the rather spectacular hack that left its platform reeling.

  • It turns out that a “rounding bug” in its “upscale” function was the unsuspecting culprit behind this grand heist that drained assets across multiple networks.
  • Over a staggering $116 million vanished into thin air, with Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, and Polygon being the unlucky hosts. Fear not, however! StakeWise heroically recovered $19 million of osETH for affected users. A true story of triumph against all odds.
  • Recovery is still in full swing, with protocol teams freezing vulnerable pools, tracing the stolen funds like some high-tech detective drama, and preparing a final report that might just rival the most thrilling courtroom thrillers.

In the annals of crypto catastrophes, few tales rival that of Balancer’s November 3rd exploit. The company has finally uncovered the ugly truth: the rounding bug in its “upscale” function was the silent villain behind the $116 million heist. Apparently, this function-meant to smooth out token swaps-was taken advantage of by hackers across multiple networks. Cue the dramatic music as WETH, osETH, and wstETH were swiftly drained away in several seemingly innocent transactions. 🙄

The attack was as sophisticated as it was simple. Hackers exploited how the code mishandled non-integer scaling factors to manipulate pool balances and steal funds. And of course, the breach allowed these shady individuals to move funds undetected, much like a thief slipping through the night. 🕵️‍♂️

When all was said and done, $116.6 million vanished. The loot was spread across Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, and Polygon, but the hackers didn’t just take any random tokens-they made off with 6,587 WETH, 6,851 osETH, and 4,260 wstETH, with an impressive audacity that left even seasoned crypto veterans speechless.

Thankfully, not all was lost. StakeWise, one of the affected protocols, managed to recover $19 million worth of osETH. That’s about 73.5% of the total stolen osETH, which they’ll return to users based on their pre-hack balances. But alas, the attackers had already converted some of the loot into ETH, rendering it irretrievable. The crypto gods, as always, are fickle. 😔

Recovery: Not All Heroes Wear Capes

As the hackers enjoyed their spoils, Balancer and its security partners sprang into action. They paused all affected pools, disabled the creation of new ones, and-because it’s 2025, after all-halted rewards for vulnerable pools. The project’s official incident report sounds like a disaster movie script, but instead of explosions, we get technical jargon.

Across the DeFi space, panic set in, and everyone rushed to contain the damage. Protocols like Sonic Labs froze accounts linked to the hack, while Berachain validators temporarily halted their network to stop the funds from moving. Meanwhile, other partners like Monerium and Gnosis imposed controls to freeze or block assets. It was a coordinated effort to limit the bleeding. 💉

But don’t think for a second that this ended without a fight. Whitehat hackers and bots joined the fray, intercepting transactions like crypto vigilantes, returning hundreds of thousands of dollars with the same determination as a child trying to reclaim their favorite toy. Some assets were returned, some were not, but the battle was fierce nonetheless.

Balancer, in its wisdom, promises that once the dust has settled, and every affected pool and transaction has been verified, they’ll publish a final report with all the juicy details. Until then, users are advised to steer clear of impacted contracts and stay tuned for updates. After all, no one wants to repeat the unfortunate history of Balancer’s “upscale” function debacle. 🙃

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2025-11-06 18:15