Berachain has temporarily halted its network to perform an emergency hard fork aimed at recovering user funds tied to the massive $128 million Balancer V2 exploit. The coordinated pause, confirmed by Berachain validators, comes as developers move to roll back affected transactions and patch vulnerabilities in the platform’s decentralized exchange, Berachain Exchange (BEX).
In an announcement on X (formerly Twitter), the Berachain team described the move as a “purposeful halt” designed to enable a safe rollback of the chain. “The network will be operational shortly upon recovering all affected funds,” the team stated, noting that the attack targeted the Ethena/Honey tripool through a complex smart-contract exploit. Because the exploit involved non-native assets, the recovery process requires a more advanced rollback than a standard hard fork.
The Berachain validators have coordinated to purposefully halt the Berachain network as the core team performs an emergency hard fork to address Balancer V2 related exploits on the BEX.
— Berachain Foundation 🐻⛓ (@berachain) November 3, 2025
This halt has been executed purposefully, and the network will be operational shortly upon…
Berachain, a Layer 1 blockchain built on the Cosmos ecosystem, operates under a Proof-of-Liquidity consensus model and integrates its native exchange, BEX, directly into the network’s design.
Emergency response and industry reaction
The decision to halt the network has sparked debate within the crypto community but has largely been met with support. Smokey The Bera, Berachain’s chief smokey officer, acknowledged the controversy but defended the move as a responsible measure to safeguard roughly $12 million in user deposits.
“We recognize this could be seen as a contentious decision,” Smokey said. “Berachain isn’t as decentralized as Ethereum in daily operations, but when user funds are at risk, coordinating the validator set to protect them is the right thing to do.”
I'm sure that some won't be happy about this, and we recognize that this could be seen as a contentious decision. Berachain doesn't benefit from the same degree of decentralization as Ethereum on a day to day basis, but in times like this, we're fortunate (in light of bad…
— Smokey The Bera 🐻⛓ (@SmokeyTheBera) November 3, 2025
Onchain investigator ZachXBT publicly backed the decision, saying, “Good job putting your users first.” DeFi analyst DeFi Ignas echoed the sentiment, arguing that “halting was the right call — there’s nothing to gain by pretending full decentralization during an emergency.”
Good decision here.
— Ignas | DeFi (@DefiIgnas) November 3, 2025
Nothing to gain pretending decentralization here as we all know even Hyperliquid or other L1s aren’t as decentralized as we want them to be.
The incident highlights a recurring dilemma in decentralized finance (DeFi): balancing decentralization ideals with practical steps to protect user assets during exploits.
The broader exploit and its cause
The Balancer V2 exploit, which also affected several related protocols, has drained more than $128 million across multiple chains, according to on-chain analytics firm PeckShield. The Ethereum-based Balancer exchange was hit by coordinated attacks, according to multiple on-chain security researchers who later confirmed the breach.
Good decision here.
— Ignas | DeFi (@DefiIgnas) November 3, 2025
Nothing to gain pretending decentralization here as we all know even Hyperliquid or other L1s aren’t as decentralized as we want them to be.
Nicolai Sondergaard, research analyst at Nansen, explained that the exploit “stemmed from a faulty access check that allowed the attacker to trigger an unauthorized withdrawal.” The attacker reportedly fabricated transaction data that mimicked legitimate fee accruals before converting them into real assets within seconds.
Sondergaard noted that while Balancer V2 and its forks suffered losses, Balancer V3 appears unaffected.
