Balancer Considers Shutdown and Treasury Distribution

Balancer, one of DeFi's original automated market makers, is considering shutting itself down and returning its treasury to token holders. According to a governance proposal posted by former Balancer Labs CEO Marcus Hardt on Monday, the protocol would pause pools in October, cancel an approved buyback, and distribute at least $9 million to BAL holders who burn their tokens starting in May 2027.

The proposal calls for an orderly winddown of the protocol, including no new business development, a phased sunset of the protocol, and closure of the DAO to the extent legally possible. Pools that can be paused would move to withdrawals only on October 30, with recovery mode enabled where contracts require it and protocol fees set to zero on pools that cannot be paused.

The treasury distribution would occur over two rounds: the first in May and June 2027, and a second round in January and February 2028. Anyone who does not redeem in the first round would receive nothing in the second round. The BIP-919 buyback, capped at 35% of the treasury, is cancelled.

Hardt argued that continuing to spend money on restructuring efforts has not led to sustained revenue growth, and that token holders should be paid what belongs to them now rather than later.