Market Snapshot: $1.4 Bn and Counting

Token-buyback spending in 2025 has already topped US $1.4 billion, with the ten largest programmes capturing 92 % of the outlay. The surge signals that “buy-and-burn” has moved from marketing gimmick to core treasury policy—though the crypto community is still arguing about whether it actually creates lasting value.

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The Heavyweight: Hyperliquid’s $644 M War-chest

Hyperliquid’s insurance-fund wallet leads the pack, pouring $644.6 million into HYPE buybacks—46 % of the entire market-wide total. The protocol has removed 21.36 million tokens (2.1 % of supply) at an average price of ~$30.18, pacing a steady $65.5 million per month. March saw the low ($39.1 M) and August the peak ($110.6 M), but the bid has never disappeared.

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One-off Giants: LayerZero, Pumpfun, Raydium

LayerZero ranks second after a single $150 M sweep that retired 5 % of the ZRO float at $3.00—last seen in May. The team calls it an “opportunistic, non-recurring” move, leaving room for scheduled programmes to overtake it.

Pumpfun sits third at $138.2 M, buying 3 % of supply since July at an average $0.0046. Prices have since dipped below that mark, so the treasury is temporarily underwater.

Raydium rounds out the “big-four” at $100.4 M, but its RAY buy-and-burn has been running continuously since 2022, making it the oldest programme among top spenders.

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Pro-Rata Champions: GMX, Metaplex, Sky

Measured by percentage of supply destroyed, GMX is king: $20.9 M (12.9 % of supply) has been pulled off the market, although part is re-allocated to LP rewards rather than burned.

Metaplex (MPLX) and Sky Protocol (SKY) follow, having retired 6.5 % and 5.4 % respectively. Metaplex earmarks half of protocol fees for buybacks, while Sky’s code automates repurchases whenever surplus revenue appears.

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Long Tail: 28 Projects, Uneven Commitment

In total, 28 well-known teams have disclosed buyback budgets this year. Yet 14 of them have retired less than 1 % of supply, and the average (excluding pure burn programmes) is only 1.9 %. Even high-profile names such as Jito and Chainlink have spent $1 M and $10.5 M respectively but barely dented their floats (0.05 % each).

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Second-half Acceleration

Monthly spending jumped 85 % in July and has kept climbing. The first half averaged $99.3 M per month; October is already at $88.8 M with two weeks left, set to beat that figure for the fourth consecutive month. September’s eye-catching $318 M included LayerZero’s one-off; strip that out and the baseline trend remains sharply upward.

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Bottom Line

Hyperliquid’s relentless bid turned buybacks into a live macro narrative, yet concentration is extreme: one protocol plus the next nine names control nine-tenths of all spending. Whether the rest of the industry follows—or concludes there are better ways to align users, builders and token holders—is still an open question for 2026.

Market Snapshot: $1.4 Bn and Counting

Token-buyback spending in 2025 has already topped US $1.4 billion, with the ten largest programmes capturing 92 % of the outlay. The surge signals that “buy-and-burn” has moved from marketing gimmick to core treasury policy—though the crypto community is still arguing about whether it actually creates lasting value.

---

The Heavyweight: Hyperliquid’s $644 M War-chest

Hyperliquid’s insurance-fund wallet leads the pack, pouring $644.6 million into HYPE buybacks—46 % of the entire market-wide total. The protocol has removed 21.36 million tokens (2.1 % of supply) at an average price of ~$30.18, pacing a steady $65.5 million per month. March saw the low ($39.1 M) and August the peak ($110.6 M), but the bid has never disappeared.

---

One-off Giants: LayerZero, Pumpfun, Raydium

LayerZero ranks second after a single $150 M sweep that retired 5 % of the ZRO float at $3.00—last seen in May. The team calls it an “opportunistic, non-recurring” move, leaving room for scheduled programmes to overtake it.

Pumpfun sits third at $138.2 M, buying 3 % of supply since July at an average $0.0046. Prices have since dipped below that mark, so the treasury is temporarily underwater.

Raydium rounds out the “big-four” at $100.4 M, but its RAY buy-and-burn has been running continuously since 2022, making it the oldest programme among top spenders.

---

Pro-Rata Champions: GMX, Metaplex, Sky

Measured by percentage of supply destroyed, GMX is king: $20.9 M (12.9 % of supply) has been pulled off the market, although part is re-allocated to LP rewards rather than burned.

Metaplex (MPLX) and Sky Protocol (SKY) follow, having retired 6.5 % and 5.4 % respectively. Metaplex earmarks half of protocol fees for buybacks, while Sky’s code automates repurchases whenever surplus revenue appears.

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Long Tail: 28 Projects, Uneven Commitment

In total, 28 well-known teams have disclosed buyback budgets this year. Yet 14 of them have retired less than 1 % of supply, and the average (excluding pure burn programmes) is only 1.9 %. Even high-profile names such as Jito and Chainlink have spent $1 M and $10.5 M respectively but barely dented their floats (0.05 % each).

---

Second-half Acceleration

Monthly spending jumped 85 % in July and has kept climbing. The first half averaged $99.3 M per month; October is already at $88.8 M with two weeks left, set to beat that figure for the fourth consecutive month. September’s eye-catching $318 M included LayerZero’s one-off; strip that out and the baseline trend remains sharply upward.

---

Bottom Line

Hyperliquid’s relentless bid turned buybacks into a live macro narrative, yet concentration is extreme: one protocol plus the next nine names control nine-tenths of all spending. Whether the rest of the industry follows—or concludes there are better ways to align users, builders and token holders—is still an open question for 2026.