Overview
- Allium Labs' data, reported on Monday, shows crypto projects spent about $638 million buying their own tokens year‑to‑date, a 17% increase from the same period in 2025.
- Two platforms account for nearly 90% of that total because they hardwire revenue into purchases: Hyperliquid routes roughly 99% of eligible fees into an Assistance Fund that buys and burns HYPE, and pump.fun commits about 50% of designated revenue to PUMP buybacks.
- Hyperliquid’s cumulative repurchases since its late‑2024 launch exceed roughly $1.1–1.3 billion, while pump.fun has used its locked smart contract to burn billions of PUMP and spent millions in single weeks to reduce circulating supply.
- Other designs differ: Sky Protocol ran a Smart Burn Engine and cut its buyback cadence by governance in March 2026, and Lido’s proposed NEST would only trigger purchases above revenue and price thresholds with strict daily and annual caps.
- Buybacks can create steady demand or remove tokens from circulation when burned, but they do not guarantee price support because their effect depends on revenue durability, token unlock schedules, whether tokens are burned or held, and changing governance or regulatory choices.