StakeWise Retrieves $21M Stolen in Balancer Hack ETH Price Moves Up

TLDR

• StakeWise recovered $20.7M in osETH and osGNO stolen during the Balancer V2 exploit.
• ETH price rose 1.1% to $3,640 after news of StakeWise’s successful recovery.
• Recovered funds include 5,041 osETH and 13,495 osGNO from hacked Balancer pools.
• StakeWise confirmed its core protocol remains safe and unaffected by the breach.

Ethereum staking protocol StakeWise has recovered $20.7 million worth of crypto assets stolen in a recent Balancer V2 hack. This development comes after a major security breach that led to over $120 million in losses. With Ethereum-related tokens being the main targets in the exploit, investors now watch closely to see if this recovery could help stabilize or improve ETH’s recent price drop.

StakeWise Retrieves Stolen Assets from Balancer V2 Attack

StakeWise announced that it had successfully retrieved 5,041 osETH and 13,495 osGNO from the Balancer V2 exploit. These assets were taken during a complex price manipulation attack that occurred over several hours.

The recovered tokens amount to approximately $20.7 million, or 73.5% of the stolen osETH and all of the stolen osGNO. The funds were secured through an emergency multisig transaction and are expected to be returned to users affected by the breach.

The attack, which took place on Monday, exploited vulnerabilities in Balancer’s V2 “stable” pools. These pools were live on several blockchain networks and were widely used by protocols like StakeWise. Balancer confirmed that the losses across all affected platforms were over $120 million.

StakeWise stated, “This recovery is a positive step, and we remain focused on returning assets to users.”

Ethereum Price Shows Early Signs of Recovery

The Balancer hack had an immediate effect on the market, especially Ethereum-related assets. ETH dropped over 8% on Monday following news of the attack.

However, after the recovery announcement from StakeWise, Ethereum’s price climbed slightly. As of Tuesday morning in Asia, ETH was trading at around $3,640, showing a 1.1% increase from the previous day.

Market observers are now speculating whether the recovered funds will ease selling pressure on ETH. Since a large amount of the stolen tokens will not be dumped into the market, this could help stabilize ETH’s trading range.

Some traders view the recovery as a reason to maintain confidence in Ethereum staking systems. Yet, it is still uncertain how much long-term effect of this event will have on price movement.

StakeWise Protocol and Core Systems Remain Secure

StakeWise confirmed that the protocol’s core systems, smart contracts, and the osETH token were not compromised during the hack. The affected assets were held in a liquidity pool that interacted with the older version of Balancer.

In contrast, the newer osETH–Aave ETH pool, which uses Balancer V3 infrastructure, was not affected. StakeWise stated that this pool remains safe and operational.

The team reassured users that they can continue unstaking ETH by burning osETH through the protocol at the internal exchange rate. This process allows users to exit without relying on external liquidity.

Liquidity Challenges May Affect osETH Pricing Short Term

Due to security concerns, many liquidity providers have begun withdrawing funds from the affected osETH pool. This has reduced overall liquidity, and in turn, could cause osETH to temporarily trade below its fixed exchange rate.

StakeWise acknowledged that this pricing deviation may continue until market conditions stabilize and liquidity is restored. However, the internal redemption system remains in place to protect user value.

The protocol advised users to rely on this redemption method to avoid losses from secondary market trading. StakeWise continues to monitor the situation and work with affected users.

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