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🐳 Daily Edition: Ether falls 5% as Bluechip Protocol Balancer is Exploited

An estimated $120M was stolen from Balancer with the contagion spreading to several other forks, causing panic among DeFi users

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Will McKinnon & Beluga
November 03, 2025

Rough start to the week for the crypto market with Bitcoin sliding back to the $105k mark, but unfortunately it doesn’t stop at bad price action. Known as a “bluechip” DeFi protocol that has been in operation for years, Balancer’s v2 stable pools were exploited today for an estimated $120M+. Balancer’s codebase is one of the most popular forks and the tech behind it has influenced everything from random DEXs on alt-L1’s to Uniswap’s most recent upgrade.

While the dollar value is undoubtedly high and I feel for all affected users, I think the bigger loss in the long run comes from the impact on sentiment towards DeFi. New protocols get hacked all the time, not battle-tested, fully audited powerhouses — crypto natives know the risks they’re taking when using fringe protocols with triple digit APY, but those like Balancer are seen as safe from smart contract risk. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen something of that size get exploited, but it is the first time in a while; in combination with the $20B in liquidations on October 10th, expect to see crypto investors playing much more cautiously.

24 Hour Heatmap, Source: CoinMarketCap

Another pain point of the day is the fact that equities markets remain sitting at all time highs despite the drop in crypto. Poor price action when stocks are also dropping is one thing, but a bearish divergence like this is something to watch carefully. Sentiment being this low does tend to be a bottom signal of course, but just because people are angry doesn’t mean prices will go back up.

For anyone wondering why altcoins have struggled this cycle, saturation is a real thing.

The Beluga intern has been hard at work gathering all the most important crypto news stories so you have them in one place!

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Disclaimer

The content on this site is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice. While Beluga strives to ensure the accuracy and timeliness of information, there may be discrepancies when comparing our data to that of financial institutions, service providers, or specific product websites. Always consult with a professional before making any financial decisions. Will McKinnon is the Head of Content for Beluga and has spent every day for many years trading coins. For that reason there are too many to name, however his largest holdings by a significant margin are Ethereum and Bitcoin. NFA DYOR