Hyperliquid and Pump.fun Dominate $638M Crypto Buyback Surge

Crypto projects have spent a record $638 million on token buybacks in 2026, with decentralized exchange Hyperliquid and memecoin launchpad Pump.fun accounting for nearly 90% of this amount. According to Allium Labs data cited by the Financial Times, Hyperliquid accounted for roughly $370 million and Pump.fun for nearly $200 million.

Token buybacks are similar to share buybacks by publicly listed companies, which buy back their own stock to support their share prices and increase returns for existing shareholders. While token buybacks are still rare in the crypto industry, more companies are taking advantage of this move.

The Hyperliquid (HYPE) and Pump.fun (PUMP) tokens have outperformed the broader cryptocurrency market decline so far in 2026. HYPE rose 145% and PUMP rose 109%, while Bitcoin's (BTC) price fell 10% and the total crypto market capitalization declined by 11.9% during the same period.

Hyperliquid spends about 99% of its revenue on token buybacks, directing $141 million toward HYPE buybacks in the second quarter. Pump.fun allocates about 50% of its net protocol revenue for token repurchases, with annualized revenue of $420 million based on the average daily revenue of the past 90 days.