Balancer Hack Recovery: Community Proposes $8 Million Distribution Plan for Victims

Balancer hack recovery has reached a key milestone as two community members submitted a proposal on November 28, 2025, to distribute $8 million in recovered funds to victims of the protocol’s $116 million exploit earlier this month. The plan details transparent compensation for affected users, marking a significant step toward rebuilding trust in the DeFi ecosystem.

Balancer Hack Recovery: $28 Million Recovered So Far

The November exploit saw $116 million drained from Balancer pools due to a vulnerability in its boosted pool implementation. Quick action by white hat hackers, internal rescue teams, and StakeWise — an Ethereum liquid staking platform — recovered $28 million in total. This includes:

• $8 million from white hat hackers and internal rescuers (covered in the new proposal)
• Nearly $20 million retrieved by StakeWise (to be distributed separately to its users)

The recovery effort highlights the DeFi community’s resilience, with coordinated responses preventing total loss and setting a precedent for future incident handling.

• Total Exploit: $116 million
• Recovered Amount: $28 million (24% of stolen funds)
• Proposal Coverage: $8 million for direct victims

The Distribution Proposal: Fair Compensation for Victims

The community-driven proposal outlines a clear process for returning the $8 million to affected liquidity providers and users. It prioritizes:

• Proportional allocation based on verified losses
• Transparent on-chain distribution via smart contracts
• No additional fees or deductions for recipients

The plan requires governance approval through Balancer’s DAO voting system, expected to conclude within the next 7 days. Once passed, funds will be distributed automatically to eligible wallet addresses.

StakeWise’s separate $20 million recovery will follow its own user restitution process, ensuring all affected parties receive compensation.

Why This Matters for Balancer and DeFi

The Balancer hack recovery effort demonstrates the protocol’s commitment to user protection and ecosystem integrity. With over $2 billion in total value locked (TVL) across its pools, Balancer remains a cornerstone of decentralized liquidity provision on Ethereum and other chains.

This incident also underscores broader DeFi trends:

• Increasing sophistication of white hat rescue operations
• Growing importance of community governance in crisis response
• Enhanced security measures post-exploit, including upgraded boosted pool contracts

The successful recovery of 24% of stolen funds sets a positive example for the industry, where full restitution remains rare.

Current Status and Next Steps

• Voting Period: Ongoing through Balancer DAO (7 days)
• Distribution Timeline: Expected within 14 days of proposal approval
• StakeWise Recovery: Separate process for its $20 million portion

Users affected by the exploit should monitor official Balancer channels for claim instructions and ensure their wallets are connected to the governance portal.

In summary, Balancer’s community proposal to distribute $8 million in recovered funds offers a transparent path to victim compensation, with $28 million total recovered from the $116 million November hack. This initiative, combined with StakeWise’s separate restitution, highlights DeFi’s improving crisis response capabilities and commitment to user protection.