Balancer co-founder announces the closure of Balancer Labs and the transition to a DAO structure

Fernando Martinelli, co-founder of the Balancer protocol, announced the official closure of Balancer Labs (BLabs). He stated that BLabs, as a corporate entity, has become a burden for the protocol's development, and due to the ongoing legal risks from the v2 vulnerability incident on November 3, 2025, along with a lack of sustainable revenue sources, the decision to close has become inevitable.

Core team members of BLabs will be integrated into Balancer OpCo through governance voting, with the relevant proposal submitted by Marcus and Danko.

Fernando also stated that the protocol still has practical operational value—over $1 million in annualized total fee revenue in the past three months—so it will not cease operations entirely. He clearly supports the currently proposed tokenomics restructuring plan, which includes: reducing BAL emissions to zero, shutting down the veBAL mechanism, allocating 100% of protocol fees to the DAO treasury, lowering the v3 protocol revenue share to 25% to attract organic liquidity, and providing a buyback exit channel for BAL holders.