Token buybacks, a practice long used by public companies to prop up their share prices, are becoming one of the main tools of the cryptocurrency market.
In 2026, crypto projects have already spent around $640 million on buying back their own tokens, a record high, according to calculations by the Financial Times.
By way of comparison: for the whole of 2025, this figure stood at around $545 million, whilst in 2024 it was just $366,000.
Hyperliquid and pump.fun account for almost 90 per cent of current buybacks.
Hyperliquid channels virtually all the revenue the platform generates into purchasing HYPE. Against the backdrop of this policy, the token’s value has risen by approximately 70 per cent.
The economic logic is similar to a share buyback: a company or protocol uses its cash flow to reduce the number of tokens in free circulation and increase the economic value of those remaining.
However, there is a fundamental difference between a token and a share. A share represents an ownership stake in a company, whilst the rights of a token holder may be significantly weaker or may not provide any legal entitlement to profits at all.
Therefore, a buyback in itself does not guarantee growth. Some projects have continued to fall in value even after launching buyback programmes.
However, the emergence of a $640 million buyback market indicates that the cryptocurrency industry is gradually adopting the tools of traditional corporate finance.