Hassan Maishera
TL;DR
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Balancer has proposed an orderly wind-down of its DeFi protocol and DAO.
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The plan would end new business development and move pools into withdrawals-only mode.
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BAL holders could burn their tokens for a proportional share of at least $9 million in treasury assets.
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A Snapshot vote is expected from September 25 to 29, and nothing will change unless the proposal passes.
Balancer is considering an orderly wind-down of its decentralized finance protocol and the distribution of its remaining treasury assets to holders of the native BAL token.
Marcus Hardt, a Balancer treasury council member and former CEO of Balancer Labs, submitted the governance proposal on Monday.
If approved, the plan would halt new business development, gradually sunset the protocol and close the decentralized autonomous organization to the fullest legal and practical extent possible.
Balancer clarified that no changes will occur unless token holders approve the proposal.
BAL Holders Could Redeem Tokens for Treasury Assets
The proposal would cancel a previously approved BAL token buyback program. Instead, Balancer would distribute its remaining treasury assets directly to eligible BAL holders.
The treasury currently contains at least $9 million in tokens. Other DAO-controlled wallets and positions would first be catalogued before being included in the initial redemption round.
Eligible holders would burn their BAL tokens in exchange for a proportional share of the treasury. Assets would be distributed in kind, meaning participants could receive the treasury’s underlying tokens rather than a single converted asset.
BAL held by the protocol’s treasury would generally be excluded from the distribution, although the proposal includes a limited exception for tetuBAL holders. TetuBAL is a liquid staking wrapper associated with the BAL token.
Hardt said Balancer had previously attempted to place the protocol on a path toward profitability.
In April, token holders approved a restructuring plan that reduced operating costs, ended token emissions, simplified BAL’s economic model and redirected protocol revenue to the DAO. Balancer also expected its v3 platform to support renewed growth.
While some initiatives gained early traction, Hardt said none generated the sustained revenue growth required to maintain operations.
“Balancer tried,” he wrote while presenting the wind-down proposal.
Protocol Pools Would Move to Withdrawals-Only Mode
If the proposal passes, contributor notice periods would continue through October 31. Balancer pools would transition into withdrawals-only mode on October 30, preventing new activity while allowing liquidity providers to recover their assets.
The first BAL redemption window would open at the end of May 2027 and remain available for six months. During that period, holders could burn their tokens and claim a proportional allocation from the treasury.
A second distribution would take place within two months after the first redemption period closes. It would cover unused wind-down funds, assets received later and shares left unclaimed during the first round.
Balancer would conduct a final treasury sweep six months later to distribute any additional inflows.
Governance Vote Expected in Late September
Discussion of the proposal remains open, with a Snapshot governance vote expected to run from September 25 to September 29.
The proposal follows the closure of Balancer Labs, the protocol’s former corporate entity, six months ago. The company cited the effects of a November 2025 exploit that drained approximately $128 million from Balancer v2 pools across several blockchains.
