Token Buybacks Are Booming. But Do They Really Make Crypto Tokens Go Up?

• Crypto protocols spent $1.4 billion on token buybacks in 2025.
• Only 3 of 10 major buyback tokens beat Bitcoin in price performance.
• Buyback size, revenue and supply matter more than headlines.

Crypto protocols spent more than $1.4 billion buying back their own tokens in 2025. Hyperliquid alone made up about 46% of that total, using roughly 97% of its trading fees to buy HYPE.

Other major protocols, including Aave, Uniswap, Sky, Pump.fun, Aptos, and Solana, are trying similar strategies: use protocol revenue to support the value of their tokens.

The idea is that if a protocol makes money and uses that money to buy or burn its own token, the supply falls and demand could rise.

CIO Bitwise Matt Hougan recently pointed to these moves as signs that the market may still be undervaluing how protocols can capture revenue.

But does this strategy actually work?

T…

Read The Full Article Token Buybacks Are Booming. But Do They Really Make Crypto Tokens Go Up? On Coin Edition.