Balancer Fork Seeks 6 Million Tokens, Threatening Holder Redemption Values
MAXYZ, a group of former Balancer contributors, is seeking up to 6 million currently non-circulating BAL tokens to seed its successor protocol. This proposal could impact the redemption value for holders if granted tokens reach other eligible holders before Balancer's proposed wind-down redemption snapshot.
The fork proposal, posted on September 20 and expanded in a September 23 FAQ, would divide the treasury among more BAL holders if the grant is successful. In exchange, MAXYZ proposes a contingent allocation from a future fork to the Balancer treasury.
According to an unaudited on-chain measurement taken on September 18, there are $9,959,416 in non-BAL assets available for distribution against 63,068,821 redeemable BAL. If 3 million additional redeemable BAL were added, the illustration would decrease to about $0.1507 per token.
The figures also vary depending on the source's measurements and boundaries. KPK reported that the Balancer portfolio it managed rose from $8.63 million at the end of July to $9.59 million at the end of August. Marcus's later $9.96 million illustration includes assets across more DAO positions and is net of the wind-down budget held outside that base.
MAXYZ offers a different potential return: if the fork has a token generation event or another liquidity or exit event, 10% of its fully diluted token supply or equivalent value would be allocated to the Balancer treasury. This is a proposed, conditional right with no realized fork payment to add to today's redemption calculation.