Jupiter has officially begun its first JUP token buyback, with on-chain data confirming that 4.88 million JUP worth $3.33 million have already been repurchased.
The Feb. 26 buyback was reported on X by popular on-chain analyst AI姨, who flagged Jupiter’s (JUP) Litterbox address used for all buyback transactions. The buyback is the first step in Jupiter’s larger strategy to repurchase JUP tokens with 50% of protocol fees.
https://twitter.com/ai_9684xtpa/status/1894587658359509255?s=46&t=nznXkss3debX8JIhNzHmzw
The buyback initiative, which was unveiled on Feb. 13, intends to reduce the number of tokens in circulation by locking repurchased tokens for three years and generating consistent buying pressure. The cryptocurrency community has welcomed the move, viewing it as a net positive that will boost demand and prevent JUP from becoming a “value trap.”
Jupiter is projected to spend about $50 million on JUP buybacks this year, based on its $102 million revenue in 2024. These buybacks would represent about 2.7% of JUP’s $1.8 billion market capitalization.
Jupiter has continued to hold its spot as Solana’s top DEX aggregator. The protocol generates fees by directing trades among many DEXs, such as Raydium and Orca, and ensuring that traders receive the best exchange rates. In the past year, Jupiter’s revenue has increased significantly as a result of the memecoin trading frenzy on Solana.
The Jupiter Perps trading platform, which holds over 80% of Solana’s perpetual decentralized exchange market, has been another key contributor to Jupiter’s revenue growth. In 2024, revenue increased sharply from $3 million in January to $21 million in December, according to on-chain analyst AI姨.
Almost 40% of Jupiter’s total revenue for the year, or $35.86 million, came from fees during significant trading periods, including the spike in TRUMP memecoin trading.
Jupiter’s buyback initiative is in line with a larger DeFi trend in which protocols such as Aave (AAVE) and Ethena (ENA) are implementing token value-accrual methods. Although the long-term effects are yet to be seen, the buyback initiative shows an increasing emphasis on aligning tokenholder value with protocol growth.
