Crypto Market Brief: Buyback Pivot Dominates As Major Token Unlock List Reshapes Market

The crypto landscape is experiencing significant shifts this week as projects fundamentally rethink their capital allocation strategies, regulatory pressures mount globally, and a major token unlock schedule threatens market stability. Here’s what’s driving conversations across the industry.

Token Economics at Crossroads: Why Projects Are Ditching Buyback Strategies

The most telling sign of changing market sentiment is the growing chorus of crypto projects abandoning or suspending buyback programs—traditionally viewed as mechanisms to support token prices and reward holders.

Helium founder Amir announced the project will stop buying back its tokens, arguing that buybacks have failed to meaningfully impact market perception. With the telecom infrastructure protocol generating $3.4 million in revenue last October alone, Amir stated the capital would be better deployed expanding the business rather than feeding “a bottomless pit.”

The sentiment echoes louder from Jupiter, where co-founder SIONG raised the question to the community: should the protocol suspend JUP buybacks? Having allocated over $70 million to buyback efforts last year with minimal token price movement, SIONG questioned whether those funds could instead incentivize user growth and platform expansion. The discussion remains ongoing within the Jupiter community, but one high-profile voice has offered a compelling alternative.

Solana founder toly weighed in on the buyback debate, proposing that staking mechanisms offer a superior capital formation path compared to token repurchases. Toly argued that through staking, protocols can align long-term holders with protocol growth while naturally diluting short-term traders. Rather than recurring buybacks, protocols can build sustainable equity claims by allowing users to lock tokens for extended periods and earn proportional rewards as protocol balance sheets expand. This approach, toly suggests, mirrors the traditional finance capital accumulation model that takes decades to solidify but ultimately proves more robust.

The buyback pivot reflects a broader shift in how crypto projects are rethinking community incentives and capital allocation strategies.

Aave Labs Charts New Revenue Sharing Model

In response to recent governance disputes over fee allocation and intellectual property ownership, Aave founder Stani Kulechov announced that Aave Labs intends to share revenue generated beyond the core protocol with AAVE token holders. This proposal seeks to resolve tensions while enabling independent product development on the decentralized protocol itself.

Kulechov emphasized the need to align AAVE holders with long-term vision expansion, including real-world asset integration and new lending models for consumers and institutions. A formal revenue distribution framework is forthcoming.

Institutional Money: Traditional Finance Signals Growing Confidence

Berkshire Hathaway’s cash and equivalents holdings have surged to 31% of total assets—the highest level in over two decades, according to Cointelegraph. While this reflects broader economic positioning, it underscores how major institutions are managing capital in uncertain times.

Meanwhile, BitMine Immersion (BMNR) Chairman Tom Lee is pushing shareholders to approve a significant increase in authorized share count, from 500 million to 50 billion shares. Lee clarified this expansion is not for immediate dilution but to reserve strategic capacity for future financing, M&A opportunities, and potential stock splits ahead of the January 15 shareholder meeting in Las Vegas.

Regulatory Pressure Intensifies Across Multiple Fronts

Congressman Ritchie Torres announced plans to introduce the “Prediction Market Financial Integrity Act of 2026,” responding to a high-profile incident where a federal official allegedly used inside information to profit over $400,000 from Polymarket prediction contracts surrounding Venezuela’s political situation. The legislation would prohibit federal employees and appointed officials from trading prediction market contracts when they possess material non-public information.

International regulatory bodies are also taking aggressive action. xAI’s Grok chatbot faces scrutiny from French authorities and India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology over allegations of generating sexualized content involving minors. French government ministers have referred Grok to prosecutors and requested media regulatory assessment under the EU’s Digital Services Act. India issued a formal letter demanding corrective action within three days. xAI has acknowledged security vulnerabilities and stated fixes are being implemented.

Meanwhile, Digital Yuan is capturing mainstream attention—the phrase “Differences Between Digital Yuan and WeChat/Alipay” topped Baidu’s Hot Search list this week. As of January 1, digital yuan wallet balances now accrue interest at demand deposit rates, distinguishing it from third-party payment apps where funds remain in service wallets rather than functioning as direct electronic currency.

Massive Token Unlock Schedule: What Traders Should Watch

Early January brings a significant token unlock list that could impact market liquidity and price dynamics. The most substantial event occurs January 6, when Hyperliquid (HYPE) releases 12.46 million tokens (3.61% of circulating supply) valued at approximately $316.93 million across a circulating supply of 238,385,316 tokens.

The unlock calendar extends through mid-January with notable releases:

• Ethena (ENA) - January 5: 171.88 million tokens (2.37% of supply) worth ~$41.59 million across 7,957,812,500 in circulation
• Linea (LINEA) - January 10: 1.38 billion tokens (6.34% of supply) worth ~$9.75 million from 15,482,147,850 total supply
• Movement Network (MOVE) - January 9: 164.58 million tokens (5.77% of supply) worth ~$6.15 million from 3,179,166,667 circulating
• Aptos (APT) - January 11: 11.31 million tokens (0.70% of supply) worth ~$21.60 million from 764,928,136 total supply

Additional releases include KUB Coin, io.net, Wormhole, BounceBit, Delysium, Optimism, RedStone, and IOTA, collectively adding hundreds of millions in circulating supply and creating potential pressure points for market participants holding these assets.

Infinex Token Sale and Market Developments

Infinex’s token offering, which launched January 4, concluded this week after the platform lowered its valuation from the initial $300 million target to $99.99 million. The repricing reflects market realities and positions the protocol more competitively in the current environment.

The week demonstrates that crypto’s most successful projects are those willing to fundamentally reassess capital strategies, embrace transparent governance, and adapt to evolving market conditions. The buyback paradigm shift particularly signals maturation in how protocols allocate resources for sustainable growth.