Revenue Revolution Could Double Prices of Major DeFi Tokens

Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan says the crypto market is becoming revenue-driven and most investors have not noticed yet, creating a valuation gap that could double prices across major DeFi tokens.

Hougan notes that for years, the biggest criticism of crypto was that tokens generated no revenue for holders. However, this changed when Paul Atkins replaced Gary Gensler at the SEC in August 2025 and Ripple won its landmark case.

Now, the biggest crypto projects are moving fast to capture revenue. Each project runs the same playbook: generate real revenue, then use it to permanently buy and burn their own tokens, reducing supply like a stock buyback reduces share count.

Hyperliquid, for example, generated over $800 million in revenue last year and uses roughly 99% of it to buy and burn HYPE tokens. Uniswap burned 100 million UNI tokens worth roughly $590 million in December 2025 and now takes in about $100 million in annual revenue, all used to buy and burn more UNI.

Hougan compares the setup to Facebook before it turned on advertising, when bears argued users would leave if ads appeared. He sees the same dynamic playing out in DeFi right now, with Uniswap trading at just $2.4 billion in market cap despite matching Coinbase for spot trading volume and Aave dominating on-chain lending alongside Morpho.