Hyperliquid's buyback accounts for 46% of the market! Leading the token buyback revolution with $645 million annually.

In 2025, cryptocurrency projects have invested over $1.4 billion in token buybacks, with just 10 projects accounting for 92% of the total expenditure. Hyperliquid leads the market with a buyback of approximately $645 million, almost accounting for 46% of this year's total token buyback activities, having repurchased 21.36 million HYPE tokens, which is 2.1% of the total supply.

Hyperliquid dominates half of the market with buybacks

(Source: CoinGecko)

Hyperliquid's buyback stood out in 2025, becoming the undisputed leader. This decentralized perpetual contract trading protocol has spent over $644.64 million in revenue for Token buybacks through its assistance fund. This amount is equivalent to the total of the next nine largest projects, highlighting the astonishing scale of Hyperliquid's buyback.

According to the latest report from CoinGecko, the protocol accounts for 46% of all Token buyback activities in 2025. So far, the network has repurchased 21.36 million HYPE Tokens, which represents 2.1% of the total supply. This percentage may seem low, but considering that the total supply of HYPE is as high as 1 billion coins, 2.1% already represents a significant reduction in supply.

Even more surprising is its repurchase potential. According to earlier estimates by OAK Research, Hyperliquid's business model has the potential to repurchase up to 13% of its total supply each year. This means that if the current pace continues, Hyperliquid could destroy more than half of its Token supply in the coming years, and this deflationary model is extremely beneficial for long-term value.

Hyperliquid's buyback funds come from its perpetual contract trading fees. As a decentralized derivatives exchange, Hyperliquid processes billions of dollars in trading volume daily, making its fee revenue substantial. Unlike centralized exchanges, Hyperliquid uses most of its revenue to buy back tokens and distribute them to holders, rather than flowing into shareholders' pockets. This revenue-sharing model attracts a large number of long-term investors.

CoinGecko research analyst Yuqian Lim pointed out that the sustainability and scale of Hyperliquid's repurchase far exceed those of other projects. “Most projects' repurchases are one-off or irregular, but Hyperliquid has institutionalized it into an automated on-chain system that executes repurchases weekly based on revenue.” This transparent and predictable mechanism enhances market confidence.

Analysis of the Top Ten Buyback Waves of 1.4 Billion USD

(Source: CoinGecko)

In 2025, 28 encryption currency projects invested a large amount of resources in token buybacks, with a total amount exceeding 1.4 billion USD. However, wealth is highly concentrated, with the top 10 accounting for 92% of the total spending, indicating that buybacks are mainly a game for leading projects.

After Hyperliquid, LayerZero has made a one-time repurchase of $150 million worth of ZRO tokens, accounting for 5% of its total supply. This is the largest single repurchase announcement of the year, but Lim pointed out: “Although the token repurchase spending surged in September, this was due to LayerZero's one-time repurchase announcement, which did not specify the exact implementation time for the repurchase. Excluding the ZRO repurchase, the token repurchase spending in September was only $168.45 million.” This one-time repurchase starkly contrasts with Hyperliquid's ongoing repurchase.

Pump.fun has invested $138 million to repurchase PUMP since July, accounting for 3% of its total supply. Lim emphasized: “Although the repurchase expenditure of PUMP is at a lower level compared to HYPE, it is worth noting that Pump.fun has already repurchased a share that accounts for 3.0% of the total supply.” As a meme coin launch platform, Pump.fun's revenue comes from token issuance fees, and this business model is extremely successful in 2024-2025.

Top Ten Buyback Projects Ranking:

Hyperliquid (HYPE): $645 million, 46% market share

LayerZero (ZRO): $150 million, one-time buyback

Pump.fun (PUMP): 138 million USD, continuous buyback

Raydium (RAY): 100 million USD, buyback and burn

Sky Protocol (SKY): specific amount not disclosed

Jupiter (JUP): Specific amount not disclosed

Ethena (ENA): specific amount not disclosed

Rollbit (RLB): Specific amount not disclosed

Bonk (BONK): Specific amount not disclosed

Aave (AAVE): Structured “Aavenomics” Buyback

Raydium has invested 100 million dollars for the repurchase and destruction of RAY Tokens. As the largest DEX in the Solana ecosystem, Raydium's repurchase funds come from trading fees. Its “repurchase and destroy” model directly reduces supply rather than redistributing it, making this approach more aggressive in terms of deflationary effects.

In terms of repurchasing supply shares, GMX performed excellently, with a repurchase amount of 20.86 million dollars, accounting for 12.9% of its supply, highlighting the efficiency of small-scale repurchases. GMX is a decentralized perpetual contract platform, its business model is similar to HYPEliquid, but on a smaller scale.

Three Major Drivers Behind the Buyback Wave

Several factors have driven the buyback craze of 2025. According to DWF Labs, this surge stems from the convergence of profitability, governance maturity, and market sentiment across the Web3 space.

Improving profitability is the fundamental driving force. The report states: “As more and more projects achieve profitability, buybacks have become an important strategy to reward long-term users, reduce circulating supply, and generate a positive feedback loop beneficial to users and projects.” In 2024-2025, DeFi protocols, DEXs, and derivatives platforms experienced a surge in trading volume, with significant increases in fee revenue. Protocols such as Hyperliquid, Raydium, and GMX have achieved stable profitability, with ample cash flow for buybacks.

Maturity in governance institutionalizes the repurchase system. Mature DAO governance and standardized fund management (such as Aave's structured “Aavenomics” repurchase) help to institutionalize these practices. Aave determines the repurchase amount and timing through community voting, ensuring transparency and accountability. This governance model is becoming an industry standard.

Market psychology shifts are equally crucial. After experiencing the turbulent year of 2024, investors began to lean towards token models based on scarcity. Meanwhile, automated on-chain systems from projects like Hyperliquid and Raydium have turned buybacks into a transparent and continuous mechanism. These dynamics together have transformed buybacks into a hallmark of normative token economics and a decisive trend for decentralized economies in 2025.

In the second half of 2025, the pace of buybacks accelerated, with buyback expenditures in July surging 85% compared to the previous quarter. As of mid-October, buyback expenditures had reached 88.81 million USD, indicating that the market expects to exceed the monthly average of 99.32 million USD from the first half for the fourth consecutive month. The average monthly expenditure is approximately 145.93 million USD, and if this pace is maintained, the total buyback for the year could exceed 1.75 billion USD.