Balancer hack shows signs of months-long planning by skilled attacker

The $116 million Balancer exploit appears to have been months in the making, with the attacker utilizing Tornado Cash and advanced methods to evade detection.

The onchain transactions of the exploiter behind the $116 million Balancer hack point to a sophisticated actor and extensive preparation that may have taken months to orchestrate without leaving a trace, according to new onchain analysis.

The decentralized exchange (DEX) and automated market maker (AMM) Balancer was exploited for around $116 million worth of digital assets on Monday.

Blockchain data shows the attacker carefully funded their account using small 0.1 Ether (ETH) deposits from cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash to avoid detection. Conor Grogan, director at Coinbase, said the exploiter had at least 100 ETH stored in Tornado Cash smart contracts, indicating possible links to previous hacks.

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