Today in crypto, decentralized finance protocol Balancer is the target of an ongoing exploit, with more than $116 million in staked Ether tokens transferred to a new wallet, Aster surged 30% after Binance co-founder revealed on X that he had bought around $2.5 million of the token using his personal funds, and Coinbase is nearing a deal to acquire stablecoin startup BVNK.
Balancer exploit swells to $116 million in outflows as team offers 20% bounty
The decentralized exchange (DEX) and automated market maker (AMM) Balancer has been exploited, with more than $116 million worth of digital assets transferred to a newly created wallet.
“We’re aware of a potential exploit impacting Balancer v2 pools. Our engineering and security teams are investigating with high priority,” the Balancer team said in a Monday X post, adding that it will share more updates as information becomes available.
Onchain data initially showed that the decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol was exploited for $70.9 million worth of liquid staked Ether (ETH) tokens transferred to a fresh wallet across three transactions, according to Etherscan logs.
The transfers included 6,850 StakeWise Staked ETH (OSETH), 6,590 Wrapped Ether (WETH) and 4,260 Lido wstETH (wSTETH), crypto intelligence platform Nansen said in a Monday X post.
By 8:52 am UTC on Monday, the ongoing exploit has swelled to over $116.6 million in stolen funds, according to blockchain data platform Lookonchain.
The Balancer exploit may stem from smart contract issues that had a “faulty access check allowing the attacker to send a command to withdraw funds,” Nicolai Sondergaard, research analyst at Nansen, told Cointelegraph, adding:
“From what I see, losses are now greater than $100 million and have affected Balancer v2 + various forks.”
Aster token goes flying after CZ reveals $2.5 million personal stake
The native token for the decentralized exchange protocol Aster spiked over 30% on Sunday after Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao disclosed that he now holds over $2.5 million in Aster.
CZ shared his wallet holdings in an X post on Sunday, and said he bought “some Aster today, using my own money on Binance.”
“I am not a trader. I buy and hold,” he added.
The post prompted Aster to jump from $0.91 to a peak of $1.26, according to CoinGecko.
Coinbase mulls $2 billion BVNK startup acquisition in stablecoin push: Report
Coinbase Global Inc., the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency exchange, is continuing its stablecoin push after key legislation in the United States sparked a renewed wave of corporate interest in blockchain-based payments.
Coinbase exchange is reportedly in late-stage talks to acquire stablecoin infrastructure startup BVNK in a $2 billion deal, according to a report by Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter.
The $2 billion acquisition is expected to close later this year or in early 2026, pending due diligence from the exchange, according to the anonymous source.
The stablecoin push could bring an additional source of revenue for Coinbase, which primarily relies on cryptocurrency trading fees to generate profits.
However, about $246 million, or 20% of Coinbase’s revenue, came from stablecoins during the third quarter of 2025, according to the exchange’s earnings results, published on Thursday.
Founded in 2021, London-based BVNK offers merchants enterprise-grade stablecoin payments. Coinbase’s venture capital wing, Coinbase Ventures, is an investor in the stablecoin infrastructure startup.
BVNK raised $90 million in funding over the past four years, from investors including Citi Ventures, Visa and Haun Ventures, according to the startup’s homepage.
