Balancer Labs Dissolves Corporate Entity After $110M Exploit — Protocol Transitions to Pure DAO Governance
Balancer co-founder Fernando Martinelli announced that Balancer Labs, the Estonian corporate entity, will wind down after November 2025's $110M exploit created untenable legal liability. All operations consolidate under Balancer OpCo Limited (BVI), a direct DAO agent. The team shrinks from 25 to 12.5 FTEs, annual budget drops 34% from $2.87M to $1.9M, and the DAO takes full control of protocol direction. Martinelli cited the corporate structure as a liability magnet and called the next 12 months 'crucial' for the DAO-first model.