How big the buyback wave is
Token repurchases have accelerated: Allium Labs tallies $638mn so far this year, ahead of the $545mn recorded over the same period a year ago, versus just $366,000 for all of 2024. According to Allium Labs' head of research Elton Shehdula, there is an "optic incentive" for projects to buy back tokens to exhibit confidence. "Once they buy those tokens, they're essentially reducing the supply, which is another lever of supporting the token price," he added.
Perpetuals venue Hyperliquid and the memecoin platform pump.fun are leading the effort, with the pair together making up close to nine-tenths of total buybacks. Hyperliquid directs 99 per cent of trading-fee income to purchasing its HYPE token and has repurchased and cancelled $1.3bn since its December 2024 launch. HYPE is up 70 per cent year on year, defying the broader crypto downdraft.
Who else is buying and how it's working
Sky Protocol has repurchased $26mn of its tokens, according to Allium. Co-founder Rune Christensen said the project "generated more than $400mn in revenues over the past year," and that buybacks of SKY "ensure the holders driving decision-making are aligned with the long-term success of the protocol." SKY confers voting rights on blockchain matters, and over the last year it is up 5 per cent.
Other examples underline mixed outcomes. Chainlink has carried out repurchases, but LINK's dollar value has dropped by about half in the same period. THORChain distributes 55 per cent of revenues to THORSwap stakers and sets aside another 20 per cent for buybacks; nevertheless, the token is down by half over the past year.
Lido said in August it intends to run recurring buybacks to tie its token's price "more directly to the Lido protocol's success" after hitting specific milestones, among them making $40mn in annualised revenues. Year over year, its token is down 71 per cent and trades near record lows.
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Not all teams see value in continuing. Helium ended its programme in February. "The market doesn't seem to care about projects buying their tokens back off the market, so we are going to stop wasting our money," said co-founder Amir Haleem.
Why projects are buying and the regulatory backdrop
Shehdula cautioned against equating buybacks with quality: "Just because a project is doing buybacks doesn't necessarily mean it's a good project," noting he is "sceptical" that repurchases will materially lift prices. Amir Hajian, a researcher at Keyrock, said speculative surges have faded and traders now focus on whether tokens deliver tangible economic benefits. . .
For years, listed firms across the US and UK have used buybacks to bolster valuations and enhance returns to shareholders. Crypto projects historically avoided similar strategies because tokens typically lack voting or economic rights, and - under former SEC chair Gary Gensler - many executives steered clear of actions that might make tokens resemble securities. Under the Trump administration, a friendlier regulatory stance toward crypto has encouraged more teams to adopt buyback programmes.
What this means for investors
The backdrop remains fragile. Some investors have shifted to surging AI-linked equities, and while crypto prices bounced after a US Treasury surprise in bond markets unsettled belief in the dollar, bitcoin is still about 38 per cent off its peak. From their peaks, XRP and solana have fallen about 60 per cent.
Buybacks can reduce circulating supply and signal conviction, but results vary widely. For portfolio decisions, scrutinise programme specifics - revenue models, buyback scale, and whether tokens include governance or economic features - rather than assuming repurchases alone will revive prices.
