Crypto projects have spent $640 million on token buybacks in 2026, a 17 percent increase from the prior year and vastly higher than the $366,000 allocated in 2024.
Hyperliquid and Pump.fun account for nearly 90 percent of buyback activity. Both protocols use generated revenue to purchase and burn their native tokens from the open market, creating a direct feedback loop between protocol economics and token price.
Hyperliquid dedicates 99 percent of its revenue to buying back and burning HYPE. Pump.fun allocates 50 percent of revenue to buybacks and burns of PUMP, having removed $446.65 million worth of tokens from circulation.
Orest Gavryliak, chief legal officer at 1inch, said communicating "bought and burned tokens" to users is "much more straightforward" than explaining governance rights or fee structures.
Max Shannon, senior research associate at Bitwise Europe, said "buybacks and burns remain an effective way to accrue value to tokenholders" and "create a continuous bid in the open market for the token, directly tethering token success."
DeFi infrastructure protocol Spark has taken a different approach. The protocol acquired over 143 million SPK through open-market buybacks funded by protocol surplus, but holds the tokens in its treasury rather than burning them. Co-founder and CEO Sam MacPherson said the holdings are intended to reward long-term ecosystem participants.
The capital allocated to buybacks represents an opportunity cost for protocols. Funds directed to token repurchases cannot be used for developer hiring, product expansion, or balance sheet strengthening. Protocols increasingly view the trade-off as worthwhile to establish a clear connection between their economic activity and token valuation.
