Balancer has issued an on-chain warning to the operator of a wallet it says is tied to the Aug. 31, 2026 exploit of Balancer V1, giving that party until Sept. 8 to return the funds. The notice, posted on Sept. 3, says the protocol is seeking a response through Blockscan by 21:00 UTC and is offering a bounty if the assets are sent back to the Balancer DAO multisig.

Balancer said it wants to resolve the matter without escalation, but warned that a failure to cooperate could lead to a broader response. According to the notice, that could include technical, on-chain and legal measures.

On-chain demand and bounty offer

In its public message, Balancer said it understands the wallet in question to be linked to the Balancer V1 exploit that took place on Aug. 31. The protocol told the wallet operator that returning the funds would allow the matter to be handled without legal action.

The notice also extends the bounty offer beyond the suspected attacker. Balancer said anyone who provides information that helps recover the assets could also be eligible for a reward, signaling that the protocol is seeking both repayment and intelligence that could assist recovery efforts.

Estimated loss from the exploit

Security firm SlowMist estimated the losses from the incident at roughly $234,000. Its assessment pointed to issues related to WBTC reserves and rounding calculations in Balancer V1.

Balancer’s statement does not add further technical detail in the extracted report, but the estimate places the latest incident among the smaller DeFi exploits by dollar value while still highlighting continued risk around legacy protocol versions.

Another blow after a larger breach

The latest exploit adds to a difficult security record for the protocol. In November, Balancer reported an exploit that drained about $128.6 million from its vaults.

That earlier incident was far larger than the Aug. 31 event, but the new warning shows the team is still dealing with the consequences of vulnerabilities tied to its ecosystem. The reference to possible legal and on-chain action suggests Balancer is trying to pressure the wallet operator while preserving a path for voluntary return of funds.

Protocol metrics and what comes next

Balancer V3 currently holds about $29.4 million in total value locked, according to the figures cited in the report. That is down sharply from more than $400 million at its 2025 peak.

Over the past 30 days, the protocol recorded $170.2 million in decentralized exchange volume, generating $62,212 in fees and $9,801 in revenue. The next confirmed step is the Sept. 8 deadline set by Balancer, with the protocol saying non-cooperation could prompt technical, on-chain and legal escalation.

Source: Coin Edition