Balancer CEO Marcus Hardt has proposed an orderly wind-down of the decentralized finance protocol after its restructured V3 business failed to generate enough revenue to replace the legacy V2 system.

If approved, the plan would distribute most of the remaining DAO treasury to eligible BAL holders. The treasury is expected to contain at least $9 million, although the final amount would be determined after wallets, positions and receivables are recorded and an audited snapshot is completed.

The proposal would gradually shift eligible pools into withdrawal mode beginning October 30, 2026. The first treasury distribution is planned for the end of May 2027.

V3 Revenue Falls Short

Hardt said Balancer had implemented much of the restructuring approved by tokenholders earlier this year. Emissions ended, costs were reduced, the team became smaller, and V3 products such as Boosted Pools and AutoRange Pools continued operating.

Revenue, however, remained a problem. Most of Balancer’s income still comes from its legacy V2 system, while V3 has not produced enough revenue to replace it. Hardt said the team pursued new integrations and partnerships, but that interest did not develop into sustained commercial growth.

— Marcus | Balancer (@Marcus_Balancer) September 14, 2026

— Marcus | Balancer (@Marcus_Balancer) September 14, 2026

The November 2025 exploit also made adoption more difficult. Hardt said the incident affected legacy V2 pools. Although V3 has a different architecture, the exploit affected discussions with potential partners and customers, he replied.

The proposed wind-down is described in the official Balancer forum proposal:

Treasury Distribution Plan

The proposal would cancel the previously scheduled BIP-919 BAL buyback and instead give BIP-919 BAL holders an allocation of treasury assets.

Balancer would not immediately suspend operations if the plan passes. Instead, it would enter a phased wind-down. Contributors would be notified by October 31, 2026, and development of any new businesses would be suspended.

Beginning October 30, pools that can be paused would move to withdrawals. Other pools would continue operating where necessary, with the protocol fee replaced by a zero fee where permitted by the relevant contracts. From November onward, Balancer would provide services primarily for fund withdrawals, documentation and the eventual treasury distribution.

Eligible holders would burn BAL to receive their share of the assets owned by the DAO. The claim period would remain open until November 2027. A second distribution would transfer unspent wind-down funds, along with assets that eligible holders failed to redeem in the first distribution, to the addresses that participated in the initial distribution. A final sweep would take place six months after the second sweep.

The wind-down budget is $400,000. Of that amount, $150,000 would be allocated for use through May 2027, $30,000 would be reserved for the final phase, and $220,000 would remain in reserve for any additional needs.

BAL holders are scheduled to vote on the proposal from September 25 to 29, 2026. If the proposal is rejected, Balancer would continue operating under its current framework.