Balancer Proposes Protocol Liquidation, Plans to Distribute Over $9 Million to BAL Holders

Proposal for Gradual Protocol Shutdown Without Revenue Recovery

The DeFi protocol Balancer has proposed to gradually wind down the protocol and distribute over $9 million (approximately 1.4 billion yen) in financial assets to BAL holders.

A proposal to wind down Balancer and distribute the treasury to BAL holders is live on the forum, authored by Marcus Hardt. Discussion is open; a Snapshot vote is expected to happen from 25 to 29 September.

Nothing changes today: pools and withdrawals work as they do now. Any wind-down action waits for the vote.

--- Balancer (@Balancer) September 14, 2026

The proposal to liquidate Balancer's operations and distribute funds to BAL holders has been published on the forum by Marcus Hardt. Discussions are ongoing...

The proposal was announced on September 14, 2026, by Marcus Hardt, a member of the financial council. It indicates a plan to halt new business activities and close the DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) as much as possible.

Proportional Distribution of Financial Assets to BAL Holders Who Burned Their Tokens

If the proposal is approved, the previously authorized BAL buyback program will be halted, and the remaining financial assets will be directly distributed to BAL holders.

Eligible holders will receive a proportional distribution of financial assets based on their holding status and participation, achieved by burning BAL tokens. The financial department holds assets worth at least $9 million (approximately 1.4 billion yen), and other DAO wallets and positions will also be included in the distribution after being organized. BAL held by the financial department itself will not be included, while the liquidity staking wrapper tetuBAL will be treated as an exception.

The initial redemption period is set to begin at the end of May 2027 and will last for six months. After that, a second distribution will be conducted for unused liquidation funds, delayed assets, and unclaimed amounts, followed by a final distribution of remaining funds six months later.

Pools that can be paused will transition to withdrawal-only mode starting October 30, while those that cannot be paused will continue to operate. From November onwards, the minimum necessary infrastructure for withdrawals will be maintained, and a vote to approve the proposal is scheduled from September 25 to 29.

No Revenue Recovery After $128 Million Outflow

The background of this proposal includes a vulnerability attack in November 2025 that resulted in an outflow of approximately $128 million (around 20 billion yen) and subsequent revenue decline.

This year, Balancer has been restructuring, including cost reductions, halting token issuance, simplifying the token model, and returning protocol revenue to the DAO. According to Hardt, while cost reductions and new product offerings have achieved some results, they have not led to sustainable revenue growth.

Monthly revenue for the protocol decreased from $1.13 million (approximately 17 million yen) in October 2025 to $371,000 (approximately 5.8 million yen) in November, and fell to $56,781 (approximately 886,000 yen) by August 2026. Revenue from the new v3 has not reached a scale sufficient to supplement traditional revenue sources.

Hardt explained that he had underestimated the impact of the vulnerability attack on subsequent adoption. He supports the policy of returning funds to BAL holders while there are still sufficient assets, rather than delaying the downsizing of operations, which would continue to deplete financial assets.

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