Uniswap and Aave have also started returning revenue to token holders
According to Bitwise’s CIO, a similar approach is spreading to other crypto projects as well. In December 2025, Uniswap approved the UNIfication proposal, which called for launching protocol fees and a buyback-and-burn mechanism for UNI. Since then, Hougan said, the project has burned about 107 million UNI and is generating roughly $100 million in annual revenue.
Aave launched weekly AAVE buybacks in April 2025. In June 2026, the protocol introduced the Aavenomics 3.0 program, which provides for automatic token buybacks funded by protocol revenue and the GHO stablecoin.
Hougan also cited other examples:
- pump.fun bought back and burned about $370 million worth of PUMP tokens
- Lighter directs trading revenue toward buying back LIT and has committed to burning the acquired tokens
- Solana is considering changes that would reduce inflation and increase fee burning
- Aptos raised its gas fee, after which transaction activity, according to Hougan, nearly tripled.
Hougan noted that criticism of cryptocurrencies for not generating income for token holders used to be justified. Bitcoin, he said, is a monetary asset and does not generate income for its holders. However, investors extended that model in their perception to the entire crypto market.
The situation was also worsened by US regulatory policy. Under SEC chairs Jay Clayton and Gary Gensler, projects that distributed revenue to token holders could face allegations of offering unregistered securities.
As a result, many crypto projects launched tokens as governance tools. Holders received voting rights, but not a share of protocol revenue, he added.
According to Hougan, the situation began to change after the court ruling in the SEC v. Ripple case and the subsequent shift by the US regulator toward a more favorable approach to cryptocurrencies.
Hougan expects further growth in protocol revenues
Bitwise’s CIO compared the current stage of the crypto market’s development to internet companies before effective advertising emerged. He noted that investors used to value such companies by user counts and other metrics, but after a clear monetization model appeared, revenue became the key metric.
In his view, a similar process is now unfolding in crypto. Hougan expects that over the next 12–24 months, DeFi protocols and L1 blockchains will generate more and more revenue.
At the same time, he emphasized that crypto assets differ from stocks. Tokens do not confer a legal right to cash flows, and their tokenomics can change through community decisions. In Hougan’s view, if the link between protocol revenues and token prices continues to strengthen, it could lead the market to reprice crypto assets.
As a reminder, Hougan previously said that the cryptocurrency market will grow even if the CLARITY Act fails.
