Today in crypto, the fallout from yesterday’s Balancer exploit continues as onchain data appears to suggest a months-long sophisticated attack, market sentiment took a dive on Tuesday as Bitcoin dipped, and crypto exchange-traded products saw $360 million in outflows last week.
Balancer hack shows signs of months-long planning by skilled attacker
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.
“Hacker seems experienced: 1. Seeded account via 100 ETH and 0.1 Tornado Cash deposits. No opsec leaks,” said Grogan in a Monday X post. “Since there were no recent 100 ETH Tornado deposits, likely that exploiter had funds there from previous exploits.”
Grogan noted that users rarely store such large sums in privacy mixers, further suggesting the attacker’s professionalism.
Source: Conor Grogan
Balancer offered the exploiter a 20% white hat bounty if the stolen funds were returned in full amount, minus the reward, by Wednesday.
Crypto sentiment nosedives as Bitcoin drops under $106,000
Crypto market sentiment fell significantly on Tuesday, with the Crypto Fear & Greed Index dropping by 50% to a score of 21 out of 100 to indicate “Extreme Fear” after Bitcoin (BTC) briefly fell below $106,000 for the first time in over three weeks.
It was the lowest score for the index in nearly seven months, having dropped to 18 out of 100 on April 9 as the wider stock and crypto markets fell in reaction to US President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs that took effect that day.
The Crypto Fear & Greed Index dropped from 42 to 21 points in a single day on Tuesday. Source:Â Alternative.me
Bitcoin fell to a 24-hour low of $105,540 on Monday, sliding from an intraday peak of over $109,000, but had recovered above $106,500 in early trading on Tuesday. It’s the first time the cryptocurrency had dropped below $106,000 since Oct. 17.
The index has swung between “Extreme Fear” and “Neutral,” after the market crash over Oct. 9-10, when Bitcoin rapidly cooled from its Oct. 6 peak of over $126,000.
Analysts have attributed Bitcoin’s current dip to reduced institutional demand and blockchain activity, as well as concerns that the Federal Reserve won’t commit to more interest rate cuts this year.
Hawkish Fed triggers $360 million in crypto outflows as Solana ETFs buck trend
Cryptocurrency investment products saw $360 million in outflows last week as investors reacted to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s cautious remarks on future rate cuts.
Despite Wednesday’s rate cut, Powell’s remark that another one in December was “not a foregone conclusion,” combined with the absence of economic data due to the ongoing government shutdown, appears to have left markets uncertain, CoinShares reported on Monday.
Most of the selling pressure came from the US markets, which saw $439 million in outflows, partly offset by modest inflows from Germany and Switzerland. Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) led the decline, with $946 million in redemptions.
Weekly crypto asset flows. Source: CoinShares
Even as Bitcoin funds bore the brunt of outflows, not all assets followed suit. Solana stood out, attracting $421 million in inflows, its second-largest on record, driven by demand for newly launched US ETFs, lifting year-to-date totals to $3.3 billion.
Ethereum also saw $57.6 million in inflows, although daily activity suggested a mixed sentiment among investors.
The outflows come after crypto products amassed $921 million in inflows the previous week, driven by lower-than-expected Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released on Oct. 24.
