Why value accrual matters for tokens

Based on Blockworks Research estimates, JUP buybacks comes up to ~40% of total supply

article-image

CryptoFX/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share


This is a segment from the 0xResearch newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.


When crypto projects make big announcements using words like “buyback,” “burn,” or “revenue sharing,” that’s usually taken to mean there are bullish investing tailwinds at play.

But I have questions. How much does an annualized 10% buyback yield actually matter when these tokens can plummet 20% in a day?

Does value accrual matter because it is valuable for reasons of fundamental analysis (i.e. cash flows), or merely for narrative optics? 

Over the weekend, Solana DEX aggregator Jupiter announced a significant JUP buyback program with 50% of fee revenues.

Based on estimates by Blockworks Research analyst Carlos Gonzalez, that translates to about $750 million in annualized JUP buybacks, or about a significant 40% of JUP’s circulating supply in a year.

Source: Blockworks Research

That’s a pretty impressive annualized buyback yield of about 42%. 

But what does 42% matter when token prices can tank 90% in a week?

Well, it’s not a flash in the pan solution, but it helps to sustain against selling pressure. Carlos pointed to Raydium’s successful experiment with buybacks:

“Raydium has accumulated 20% of RAY’s supply since the start of their buyback program. In terms of market structure, it adds buying pressure to the token and RAY has outperformed most of Solana DeFi. Fundamentals matter but of course you could also find examples to argue that buybacks aren’t that bullish. For instance, Maker.”

Virtuals, the leading AI agent launchpad on Base (now expanding to Solana), also committed two weeks ago to an estimated $40 million in buybacks and burns for 10k+ agent tokens over a 30-day TWAP. 

Since the buybacks were announced on Jan. 15, the five largest agent token buybacks by far are GAME, CONVO, AIXBT, SEKOIA and MISATO, all of which have given up all their gains as of yesterday’s market crash.

Over the last year, many blue-chip DeFi protocols with actual product-market fit have also sought to return revenues to token holders.

Compound, for instance, proposed in August a fee switch to allocate 30% of its reserves to COMP stakers.

Marc Zeller of Aave proposed last July a “Buy & Distribute” proposal to buy back AAVE on the open market with “net excess revenue of the protocol.”

Then there’s Uniswap, which planned to implement a UNI fee switch for stakers, but quickly abandoned the proposal after receiving an SEC Wells notice two months later (Uniswap is again attempting some form of value accrual on its upcoming Unichain).

Major L2s like Arbitrum, Starknet and Gnosis have floated proposals last year to return value to token holders who stake their tokens.

Starknet voted last September to enable Starknet staking (12.94% APY) and Gnosis passed a proposal in June to spend $30 million of the DAO’s treasury to buy back liquid GNO over a six-month period.

As far as I can tell, out of all the above-mentioned value accrual proposals, only Starknet and Gnosis have actually implemented their value accretive mechanisms.

Yet from the time these value accrual mechanisms were put in place, GNO has seen a 46% decline, while STRK has stayed flat.

So what are the right mental models to think about value accrual mechanisms? They’re not a magic bullet. But they’re a key ingredient in the recipe of getting a successful token launch right.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Featured.png

Research

Helium stands at a pivotal moment in its evolution as a decentralized wireless network, balancing rapid growth, economic restructuring, and global expansion. With accelerated growth in domestic DAUs and Hotspots supporting its network, Helium is leveraging strategic partnerships and innovative proposals to scale internationally. The recent implementation of HIP 138, “Return to HNT,” has unified its token economy under HNT, simplifying participation and strengthening liquidity, while HIP 139’s phase-out of CBRS refocuses efforts on scalable Wi-Fi offload. Meanwhile, governance shifts under HIP 141 raise questions about centralization as Nova Labs consolidates control over the roadmap.

article-image

In 2011, WikiLeaks faced a financial blockade imposed by the US government. It was Bitcoin’s first major test.

article-image

Kado’s founder Emery Andrew spoke to Blockworks about the acquisition and what’s next for the team

article-image

LayerZero’s Bryan Pellegrino chatted with Blockworks about the firm’s next steps and its 10-year runway

article-image

Colosseum co-founder Matty Taylor is seeing “high-performance [Solana] founders showing a lot of interest in private trading technology”

article-image

Executives weigh the growth potential they see in the public stock and private credit/equities arenas

article-image

Players can stake ME, trade tokens and link wallets to climb the leaderboard