Berachain

Berachain receives a C risk grade (45/100) from Hindenrank, where lower scores indicate lower risk. Elevated risk — novel Proof-of-Liquidity consensus with demonstrated exploit vulnerability and severe TVL decline, partially offset by strong funding and active development team. Berachain is an EVM-compatible Layer 1 blockchain featuring a novel Proof-of-Liquidity consensus mechanism where validators must actively direct liquidity to ecosystem protocols. Operating with a three-token model (BERA for gas, BGT for governance, HONEY as stablecoin), the chain launched mainnet in February 2025 but has experienced a dramatic decline from $3.3B peak TVL to approximately $125M. Its C grade reflects the untested nature of its novel consensus mechanism, the November 2025 Balancer V2 exploit that required an emergency network halt, and severe TVL contraction indicating declining user engagement.

The key risks identified for Berachain are: (1) Proof-of-Liquidity is a novel and untested consensus mechanism that couples chain security directly to DeFi liquidity. If ecosystem protocols lose liquidity, validator economics weaken and chain security may degrade. (2) Berachain experienced a Balancer V2 exploit in November 2025 that drained $12.8M from BEX, requiring an emergency network halt and hard fork. While funds were recovered through white-hat intervention, the incident exposed dependency risks from imported code. (3) TVL has declined approximately 96% from its $3.3B peak to around $125M, and BERA token price is down 96% from its all-time high, indicating significant loss of user confidence and liquidity. (4) Insider token allocation is substantial at 51.1% (34.3% investors plus 16.8% core contributors), with tokens vesting over a 1-year cliff followed by 24-month linear schedule, creating ongoing sell pressure.

Berachain scores 45/100 across eight risk dimensions: Mechanism Novelty: 9/15, Interaction Severity: 10/20, Oracle Surface: 2/10, Documentation Gaps: 3/10, Track Record: 6/15, Scale Exposure: 5/10, Regulatory Risk: 2/10, Vitality Risk: 8/10. The highest risk area is Vitality Risk at 8/10.

Among 56 rated L1 protocols on Hindenrank, Berachain ranks #46 by safety (lowest risk score = safest). Its 45/100 risk score and C grade place it among the riskier L1 protocols.

Berachain scores 6/15 on the Track Record risk dimension, indicating some history of security incidents or exploits. Higher scores reflect more severe or frequent incidents. Review the full risk report for details.