Balancer Proposes Shutdown as CoinEx Announces Closure After Nine Years

Balancer Seeks Approval for an Orderly Protocol Wind-Down

Balancer’s proposal was posted by Marcus Hardt, a treasury council member and former Balancer Labs CEO, and would end new business development, move the protocol through a phased shutdown and close the DAO as fully as possible from a legal and practical standpoint. The plan would cancel a previously approved BAL token buyback program and replace it with a direct redemption process that allows eligible holders to burn BAL and receive a proportional share of treasury assets.

Balancer’s treasury currently contains at least $9 million worth of tokens. Assets would be distributed in kind rather than being converted into a single asset before distribution. Additional assets held in other DAO wallets and positions would first be identified and brought into the treasury inventory. BAL already held by the treasury generally would not participate in the redemption, although the proposal includes an exception involving tetuBAL, a liquid staking wrapper token.

Hardt framed the proposal as the end result of an earlier attempt to put Balancer on a sustainable footing. “Balancer tried.” He said BAL holders had approved a restructuring plan in April 2026 designed to bring the protocol to profitability through a leaner operating model.

Hardt summarized that earlier plan directly: “In April, token holders approved a plan to take the protocol to profitability on a restructured base: costs cut, emissions ended, the token model simplified, protocol revenue routed to the DAO, growth expected from v3.”

Some parts of that restructuring effort gained traction, according to Hardt, but they did not produce sustained revenue growth. The proposed wind-down would therefore replace efforts to continue operating the protocol with a staged process focused on withdrawals and treasury distribution.

If BAL holders approve the proposal, Balancer pools would move into withdrawals-only mode on October 30, 2026, while contributor notice would continue through October 31, 2026. Balancer has said nothing changes before the governance vote.

The first treasury-redemption window would begin at the end of May 2027 and remain open for six months. Eligible BAL holders participating in that window would burn their tokens and receive their proportional share of the treasury.

After that first window closes, participating addresses would receive a second-round airdrop within two months. That distribution would include unused wind-down funds, assets or revenues received after the initial distribution and shares corresponding to BAL that was not redeemed during the first window.

A final sweep would occur six months later, distributing additional assets or inflows remaining after the earlier stages of the wind-down.

The proposal follows a series of setbacks for Balancer. Balancer Labs, the protocol’s corporate entity, ceased operations roughly six months before the September proposal after citing fallout from an exploit.

That exploit occurred on November 3, 2025, draining approximately $128 million from Balancer v2 pools across multiple blockchain networks. Balancer later moved through the restructuring approved the following spring before governance began considering a full protocol sunset.