$638M Crypto Buyback Boom Fuels Price Gains for Hype and Pump Tokens

Crypto projects have spent a record $638 million on token buybacks so far in 2026, with decentralized exchange Hyperliquid and memecoin launchpad Pump.fun accounting for nearly 90% of that amount.

According to data from Allium Labs cited by the Financial Times, Hyperliquid accounted for roughly $370 million of the total, while Pump.fun was responsible for nearly $200 million. This is a significant increase from last year's figures, which saw crypto projects spend $545 million on token buybacks during the same period.

The tokens of these two companies have also seen significant growth, with Hyperliquid's ($HYPE) price rising 145% year-to-date and Pump.fun's ($PUMP) price increasing by 109%. This outperforms the broader cryptocurrency market, which has declined by 10% and 11.9%, respectively.

Hypers liquid spends about 99% of its revenue on token buybacks, having reported $169 million in second-quarter revenue and directing $141 million toward $HYPE buybacks. Pump.Fun allocates about 50% of its net protocol revenue for token repurchases, with the memecoin launchpad currently boasting $420 million in annualized revenue.