Balancer Proposes Wind-Down After Exploit Revenue Failure

Balancer, a decentralized exchange protocol, has proposed a phased wind-down and the distribution of its remaining treasury to token holders after a post-exploit restructuring failed to restore sufficient revenue. The plan, authored by CEO Marcus Hardt and posted to the Balancer governance forum on Monday, September 15, 2026, calls for a shutdown vote among BAL token holders from September 25 to 29. The proposal follows a November 2025 exploit that drained approximately $128 million from Balancer's legacy V2 pools. Monthly protocol revenue fell sharply from $1.13 million in October 2025 to $371,000 in November, according to data from DefiLlama cited in the proposal. Revenue continued to decline through 2026, reaching just $56,781 in August. Hardt stated that while a cost-cutting restructuring achieved after Balancer Labs shut down in March 2026 successfully reduced expenses and delivered promised products, it did not generate enough revenue to sustain operations. "The product worked. It did not sell enough," Hardt wrote on X.