TL;DR
- Balancer published a proposal to shut down the protocol and distribute its treasury, valued at at least $9 million, among BAL holders.
- Marcus Hardt, former CEO of Balancer Labs, presented a plan that includes canceling the token buyback and a two-round redemption scheme.
- The Snapshot vote is scheduled between September 25 and 29; until then, the protocol continues operating without changes.
Balancer has published a governance proposal calling for the orderly shutdown of the DeFi protocol and the proportional distribution of its treasury among holders of the native BAL token who choose to burn their positions.
The initiative was presented by Marcus Hardt, treasury council member and former CEO of Balancer Labs, and would mark a definitive breaking point for one of the most important decentralized liquidity protocols in the Ethereum ecosystem.
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…
— Balancer (@Balancer) September 14, 2026
The End of Balancer: Between the Exploit and Commercial Failure
The proposal comes approximately six months after the shutdown of Balancer Labs, the corporate entity behind the protocol, which ceased operations in November 2025 following an exploit that occurred on the 3rd of that month and resulted in the loss of around $128 million from various Balancer v2 pools across multiple chains.
In his presentation, Hardt acknowledged that in April holders had approved a restructuring plan aimed at profitability, involving cost cuts, an end to emissions, simplification of the token model, and redirecting protocol revenues to the DAO. However, he admitted that none of the new initiatives managed to translate into sustained revenue growth.
The plan calls for the cancellation of the previously approved BAL buyback program. Instead, the remaining treasury assets, currently representing at least $9 million in tokens, would be distributed in kind and proportionally to those who burn their BAL. The DAO’s wallets and additional positions would be incorporated into the inventory before the first redemption round. Tokens held by the treasury itself would be excluded, with a limited exception for holders of tetuBAL, a liquid staking token.
Shutdown Timeline and Redemptions
If the proposal is approved, the contributor notice period would extend until October 31, and pools would switch to withdrawals-only mode on October 30. The first redemption window would open in late May 2027 and remain active for six months. A second round in the form of an airdrop would reach the same addresses within two months of the shutdown, covering unused funds and unclaimed portions. A final sweep six months later would distribute any remaining revenue.
The protocol clarified that the discussion is open and that the Snapshot vote is scheduled between September 25 and 29. Until the proposal is approved, nothing changes in how the protocol operates.
