Crypto projects ran a record $638 million of token buybacks this year, with Hyperliquid and Pump.fun responsible for nearly 90% of repurchases; Hyperliquid has routed fees to retire $1.3 billion of HYPE since December 2024 and HYPE is up about 218% YTD and hit $86.71 on August 27, while Pump.fun deployed $442.94 million and burned 163.03 billion tokens (16.3% of supply). Performance is mixed across DeFi and token markets: SKY and JUP rose modestly (+20.1% and +9.3%) but LDO fell 39% and LINK fell 7.6%, and analysts warn the August market rally makes it hard to isolate buyback-driven adoption or price effects.

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In Brief

Crypto projects bought back $638 million of their own tokens this year.
Hyperliquid and Pump.fun account for nearly 90% of all repurchases.
HYPE gained roughly 218% while LDO and LINK each fell sharply.

Crypto projects have spent a record $638 million buying back their own tokens this year, and nearly 90% of it came from just two of them.

Hyperliquid (HYPE) and Pump.fun (PUMP) have both more than doubled since January. The four other projects running repurchase programs range from a 20% gain to a 39% loss.

Crypto Projects Spend $638 Million on Token Buybacks: Did It Work?

Allium Labs data puts this year’s repurchases at $638 million. That compares with $545 million during the same period last year and just $366,000 across all of 2024.

Hyperliquid, a decentralized exchange for perpetual futures, leads in buybacks. It routes 99% of of its protocol and trading fees into repurchasing HYPE.

It has retired $1.3 billion of the token since December 2024. The token set another all-time high last week as a fresh buyback engine went live.

Pump.fun uses half of every dollar it earns to buy back PUMP on the open market and permanently burn the tokens. The project has deployed $442.94 million that way, burning 163.03 billion tokens. That equals 16.3% of the total supply.

Sky Protocol (SKY) has bought about $26 million worth of its SKY tokens, according to Allium. Lido (LDO) also has a program called NEST, which uses a portion of protocol revenue to buy LDO when certain thresholds are met.

Chainlink (LINK) has also conducted token buybacks. Finally, Jupiter (JUP) has spent nearly $14 million on token buybacks so far this year.

Token Prices Show Mixed Results Despite Buybacks

Notably, when it comes to the price, the results diverge. HYPE has gained 217.9% since January 1 and set a record of $86.71 on August 27. PUMP rose 124.5% over the same stretch.

The other tokens delivered far weaker returns. SKY added 20.1%, and JUP gained 9.3%, while LINK fell 7.6% and LDO dropped 39%.

Timing complicates that reading, however. August brought a broader crypto market rally that lifted many tokens, making it harder to isolate the impact of buybacks.

Through July 31, HYPE was the only token showing a major gain, up 106.3% since the start of the year.

Year-To-Date Price Change for HYPE, PUMP, SKY, JUP, LINK, and LDO. Source: BeInCrypto

PUMP had risen just 8.2% by then, and LINK was down 33%. August alone added 107.5% to PUMP and 37.9% to LINK.

Thus, the data shows that aggressive buybacks can coincide with strong token performance, but they do not guarantee it. HYPE and PUMP delivered outsized gains alongside substantial repurchases, while LDO and LINK still struggled despite buyback activity.

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