Balancer Fork Proposal Requests 6 Million BAL Amid Wind-Down Plan

Former Balancer contributors known as MAXYZ have submitted a governance proposal requesting up to 6 million BAL to launch a successor protocol, raising concerns over token dilution as Balancer prepares for a potential treasury liquidation. ## Treasury Dilution and Redemption Value Scenarios The MAXYZ proposal, published Sept. 20 and updated with a FAQ on Sept. 23, seeks 3.5 million BAL from the treasury, 1.6 million BAL from a Balancer Labs fundraise safe, and 928,000 BAL from a Labs team safe. The group proposes taking half of the grant upfront and the remainder capped after tetuBAL holders receive their payouts. Under an unaudited Sept. 18 inventory by contributor Marcus, Balancer held $9,959,416 in non-BAL assets against 63,068,821 redeemable BAL, equaling roughly $0.1579 per token. Adding 3 million redeemable BAL would lower that figure to approximately $0.1507 per token. If the full 6 million BAL enters eligible hands before the proposed May 2027 snapshot, the redemption value would drop to $0.1442 per token, representing an 8.7% reduction. Separate reports from portfolio manager KPK showed its managed portfolio grew from $8.63 million at the end of July to $9.59 million at the end of August. In exchange for the grant, MAXYZ proposes reserving 10% of its future fork's token supply for the Balancer treasury, though this asset currently carries no realized value. ## Operations, Timelines, and Protocol IP The two proposals present starkly different timelines for Balancer's pool operations. Marcus's wind-down plan shifts pausable pools to withdrawal-only mode on Oct. 30, with v3 pools eligible for an extension to Nov. 30 if requested by Oct. 16. MAXYZ seeks to keep vaults and pools unpaused until the end of Q2 2027, estimating monthly upkeep at $5,000 against Marcus's proposed $220,000 wind-down reserve. Community members from Rocket Pool's Incentive Management Committee and yield protocol Royco expressed interest in secondary liquidity on a potential fork, though neither committed capital. Additionally, MAXYZ seeks a perpetual, nonexclusive license to Balancer IP, which would require separate Snapshot voting alongside any transfer of DAO-owned code. As regulatory scrutiny increases across decentralized finance, such restructuring efforts highlight the complex nature of EU regulatory shifts across DeFi protocols. ## Key Takeaways * MAXYZ is requesting up to 6 million non-circulating BAL across DAO and Labs safes to seed a successor fork. * Current estimates indicate the grant could reduce token redemption payouts by up to 8.7%, from $0.1579 down to $0.1442 per BAL. * Marcus's wind-down plan sets withdrawal-only transitions for Oct. 30, whereas MAXYZ wants pools open through Q2 2027. * A proposed May 2027 snapshot date will determine the final redeemable BAL supply and asset distribution.