50% Compensation for tetuBAL Holders Under Balancer Wind-Down and Treasury Distribution Plan
Key Facts
Balancer token holders approved proposal BIP-928 for an orderly wind-down, while competing proposal BIP-929, which called for continuing the project through a fork, failed to pass. The vote selected 50% compensation for tetuBAL holders, according to the Balancer governance forum’s announcement of the September 29, 2026 vote result. The decision puts the protocol on a path to an orderly closure, while keeping transition and distribution work within the plan. The shareholder notice period ends on October 31, 2026, according to the proposal. After that, a small transition team working on an hourly basis will coordinate the work needed for the wind-down and distribution with Balancer OpCo.
The proposal cited a widening gap between the protocol’s income and its operating costs. Monthly revenue reached about $30,000 in August 2026, after reaching $97,000 in June, with most August income coming from V2. The proposal estimated operating burn at about $150,000 a month, against August revenue of about $30,000. It said most revenue still comes from V2 and that V3 growth had not made up for its decline. These figures show the financial basis the proposal presented to justify the wind-down.
The plan includes a gradual transition for pools whose partners requested that they remain active for migration purposes. These pools from the V3 release can remain active until November 30, 2026, the date the V3 vault will be shut down, according to the governance forum. The remaining pools will then move to withdrawal-only mode. That does not mean withdrawals will stop: the proposal states that withdrawals from non-custodial contracts do not depend on Balancer or on any entity continuing to operate it. The plan also intends to keep a simplified withdrawal interface and documentation available during the wind-down.
Coverage under the bug bounty program ends on October 30, 2026, according to the proposal. This date marks the end of coverage as the project enters the wind-down phase, while the transition team continues the necessary work according to the announced schedule. The proposed withdrawal interface and documentation will give asset holders access to withdrawal guidance during this phase. The proposal says that withdrawing assets from non-custodial contracts does not require the protocol to continue operating. The plan thus separates the continued ability to withdraw from the continuation of protocol services and the bug bounty program.
The proposal set a cap of $400,000 on the wind-down budget from November 2026 through its completion. It allocates $150,000 for the period through May 2027, then $30,000 from that point until the final distribution. The remaining $220,000 is a conditional reserve that will be drawn only if needed. The proposal estimated the managed treasury at no less than $9 million based on token prices at the time of publication. But it said the balance would be measured and audited when the first round opens, so the estimate does not represent the final amount to be distributed.
The first round to redeem a share of the treasury begins at the end of May 2027, according to the proposed schedule. BAL holders will burn their tokens in exchange for their proportional share of the treasury, with the redemption process starting in late May, according to TokenPost. The plan says a second round will distribute unspent funds and subsequent inflows within two months of the first round’s close. The team also intends to publish distribution implementation specifications for comment at the end of February 2027 and conduct an audit of the claim contract. The opening snapshot block is scheduled to be announced at least two weeks before the first round.
TokenPost reported that BAL holders do not need to take immediate action before distribution begins. According to the report, tetuBAL holders can receive BAL equal to 50% of the value of their locked tokens, in line with the treatment selected by the governance vote. The end of May 2027 remains the scheduled starting point for redeeming a share of the treasury. The final amount will depend on measuring and auditing the balance when the first round opens, according to the wind-down proposal. The second round aims to distribute the remainder and subsequent inflows within the specified period after the first round closes.