The Balancer protocol has proposed ceasing operations after a restructuring failed to generate sufficient revenue. According to Balancer Labs CEO Markus Hardt, a $128 million exploit that occurred in November 2025 continues to negatively impact the protocol's adoption. The proposal was published on Monday on the Balancer governance forum. It calls for an orderly shutdown of the protocol and the distribution of the remaining treasury assets, currently valued at over $9 million, among BAL token holders.
Balancer Labs ceased operations in March when executives decided to continue managing the protocol in a more compact structure. Hardt noted that the restructuring succeeded in reducing expenses and releasing promised products, but the revenue results were insufficient. "What didn't come was enough revenue. Most of the protocol's revenue still comes from v2, and v3 revenues have not increased to replace it. The product worked. It just didn't sell enough," Hardt said. According to DefiLlama, Balancer's monthly revenue fell to $371,000 in November from $1.13 million in October following the theft affecting the composite stable pools of the legacy v2 protocol. Revenue continued to decline in 2026, reaching only $56,781 in August.
"The theft in November 2025 affected the legacy v2 pools. v3 has a different architecture, but this event became the topic of every discussion, and it was difficult to promote," Hardt said on the forum. "I underestimated how much the theft would continue to limit adoption," he added in a separate post on X.
According to the proposal, Balancer will begin a focused shutdown next month: new business development will cease, and liquidity providers will have until October 30 to prepare to exit the protocol. Pools that can be paused will switch to withdrawal-only mode; those that cannot be paused will continue to operate, but the protocol fee will be set to zero where contracts allow. Starting November 1, Balancer will operate only with the minimal infrastructure necessary to support withdrawals, and the DAO will be liquidated, leaving a small team to manage the transition. Up to $400,000 is allocated for the liquidation process.
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