Balancer Holders Approve Protocol Wind-Down With Payout Estimate
More than 99% of roughly 17.2 million BAL cast supported the plan, with treasury claims scheduled to open at the end of May 2027.
Balancer holders approved a protocol wind-down, with more than 99% of roughly 17.2 million BAL cast supporting the measure. Pools that can be paused will move to withdrawals only, with a future treasury distribution planned.
The approved proposal, BIP-928, will move those pools to withdrawals only on Oct. 30. Bug-bounty coverage for every pool will end on the same date.
Treasury claims are scheduled to open at the end of May 2027 and remain available for six months. Holders will burn BAL to claim a pro rata share of the remaining treasury assets in kind after existing veBAL locks expire.
Former Balancer Labs CEO Marcus Hardt, who wrote the wind-down plan, estimates the payout at about 16 cents per BAL. In a Sept. 20 update, Hardt calculated a distributable treasury of roughly $9.96 million against 63.07 million redeemable BAL, producing an estimate of $0.1579 per token.
Hardt described the calculation as his own measurement rather than an audited figure. The final figure will be set and audited when the claims snapshot opens.
A separate governance proposal, BIP-929, to launch an official Balancer fork failed, with about 70% of votes opposing it. The proposal would have kept pools operating through the end of the second quarter of 2027.
Partners still moving v3 liquidity may request an extension by Oct. 16, allowing those pools to remain live through Nov. 30. Withdrawals will remain open throughout the wind-down.
Balancer’s v2 and v3 pools held about $52.4 million combined on Tuesday. Balancer Labs announced in March that it would shut down after a November 2025 exploit drained about $128 million from v2 pools.
The next scheduled milestones are the Oct. 16 extension deadline, the Oct. 30 shift to withdrawals only and the opening of treasury claims at the end of May 2027.
