Balancer Proposes to Wind Down After Turnaround Plan Fails to Lift Revenue

Balancer (BAL) is set to begin a phased shutdown under a new governance proposal. The plan moves eligible pools to a withdrawals‑only mode next month and aims to return the DAO treasury to token holders after a restructuring effort did not revive revenue.

Failed Turnaround Plan

In April, Balancer approved a restructuring that reduced its budget, ended token emissions, and redirected protocol fees to the DAO. The initiative relied on the launch of Version 3 (v3) and AutoRange Pools to drive growth. However, most revenue continues to come from older Version 2 (v2) contracts, and v3 has not replaced them.

Revenue Decline

Monthly revenue peaked at over $1 million in October 2025 but collapsed after a November exploit that drained $128 million from v2 pools. Since then, revenue has not recovered. DefiLlama data shows revenue falling from just above $200,000 in April to under $60,000 in August, with September tracking even lower.

Governance Proposal Details

• Pools that can be paused will switch to withdrawals‑only on October 30.
• Non‑pausable contracts will continue running with protocol fees set to zero where possible.
• Contributor contracts end on October 31.
• A minimal withdrawal team will manage the wind‑down, with spending capped at $400,000 until the final payout.
• The treasury holds at least $9 million (excluding BAL tokens).
• Round one of token distribution opens end of May 2027, with BAL burns and pro‑rata in‑kind claims closing in November 2027.
• An airdrop is planned for January 2028, followed by a final sweep six months later.
• The proposal cancels the BAL buyback approved under BIP‑919.

Voting and Next Steps

Snapshot voting runs from September 25 to September 29, requiring a quorum of 5 million BAL. Contributors are preparing a separate proposal to maintain the infrastructure under a new name if the wind‑down passes.

If approved, Balancer would join several DeFi projects that have closed in 2024.