Components
Terminology
Balancer is an umbrella term that represents a decentralized ecosystem of independent components, tools and contributors.
Balancer Protocol is the set of smart contracts that lives on the blockchain and facilitates all of the interactions of swapping, liquidity provisioning, pool creation, and more.
Balancer Dapp is an open source frontend application that users can use to easily interact with the underlying smart contracts.
Balancer DAO is the decentralized autonomous organization which encompasses the Balancer community. Following the incorporation of the Balancer Foundation, a framework of service providers (SPs) has been voted into practice by governance (BIP-1 (opens in a new tab)). The major actors in the community may be appointed or removed from any positions they hold as SPs.
Ecosystem Council is a group of leaders of each individual SPs directly approved by the DAO. As part of the accountability mechanisms, the eco-council must meet regularly to ensure all are strategically aligned (BIP-198 (opens in a new tab)).
Ecosystem Participants
Balancer Labs is the original entity that developed the protocol and now focuses entirely on open source smart contract development. Balancer Labs is not a service provider to the DAO.
Orb Collective is an independent entity created by a team of former Balancer Labs and Balancer DAO contributors. Orb is an experienced and passionate team of professionals who are dedicated to propelling Balancer’s growth. Orb Collective’s mission is simple: to scale global utilization of the Balancer Protocol (learn more in the governance forum (opens in a new tab)).
Balancer Foundation provides the DAO with an additional mechanism for executing work, furthering Balancer’s decentralization goals, and building resilience across the Balancer Ecosystem (latest funding proposal BIP-281 (opens in a new tab)).
Balancer OpCo a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Balancer Foundation. It is an integral element of the Balancer Foundation corporate structure supporting the Balancer DAO, and is intended to serve two primary functions: Administrative & Operational and Frontend Dev (latest funding proposal BIP-55 (opens in a new tab)).
Balancer Maxis is a workgroup formed by community contributors aligned with the protocol’s future and long-term sustainability. Whether proposing and executing innovative ideas or helping third-party projects, Maxis have taken several roles handling DAO operations (learn more in the governance forum (opens in a new tab)).
Balancer Grants is a community-owned grants program for the Balancer ecosystem. The program aims to accelerate development while optimizing contributor rewards. Grants are an alternative pathway for projects aimed at funding smaller, short term or one off projects that don’t fit the SP funding model. (latest funding proposal BIP-229 (opens in a new tab)).