Balancer

Balancer launched in March 2020 as an automated market maker enabling customizable pool weights, introducing weighted pools and liquidity bootstrapping pools that influenced later DEX designs.

In August 2023, a precision vulnerability in V2 pools caused approximately $2.1 million in losses, marking the first major security incident. A June 2024 Velocore hack exploited Balancer V2's access control flaw, resulting in $6.8 million stolen.

The most severe attack occurred on November 3, 2025, when hackers drained $120 million from V2 pools across multiple chains, exploiting rounding errors in small-trade calculations. This incident triggered a cascade: the hacker gradually converted stolen ETH to BTC via THORChain, and law firms began investigating potential securities claims.

In March 2026, co-founder Fernando Martinelli announced Balancer Labs would cease operations, citing the hack's legal risks and unsustainable revenue. The protocol transitioned to a leaner model under the Balancer Foundation and DAO, with BAL emissions cut to zero and a buyback program initiated.

In February 2026, a legacy V1 pool was exploited via precision bugs, losing $234,000, highlighting risks of abandoned contracts. Balancer also suspended reCLAMM pools for security investigation in late 2025.