Crypto Groups Pour About $640mn Into Token Buybacks Amid Market Slump

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.