Ethereum News Update: 11 Security Reviews, $128 Million Gone—The DeFi Audit Dilemma Unveiled
StakeWise DAO has reported the successful retrieval of 5,041 osETH and 13,495 osGNO from the
The breach, initially disclosed on November 3, involved a complex manipulation of Balancer’s liquidity pools. The attacker exploited token invariants—mathematical principles that regulate token exchanges—to secure advantageous rates and withdraw funds, DLNews reported. Despite having undergone 11 audits by leading firms such as OpenZeppelin, Trail of Bits, Certora, and ABDK since 2021, the platform’s smart contracts were still compromised, as outlined in a
Balancer clarified that the incident was "limited to V2 Composable Stable Pools" and did not impact V3 or other pools, according to Cointelegraph. Nevertheless, the exploit affected several blockchains, including
The recovery of osETH and osGNO—tokens representing staked Ethereum—by StakeWise highlights the possibility of reclaiming some assets after such breaches, Weex reported. However, the DAO’s achievement does not allay wider fears about DeFi’s susceptibility to invariant manipulation, where attackers exploit pricing formulas to empty liquidity pools, DLNews observed.
This event highlights a persistent issue in crypto security: even with increased spending on audits and bug bounty programs, advanced exploits continue to target complex code. By November 2025, losses from crypto-related breaches had already surpassed $2.2 billion for the year, according to DLNews. Experts emphasize that comprehensive security approaches, including proactive monitoring and community-led response systems, may be essential to counteract emerging risks.
