Crypto trader Ansem has challenged the idea that token buybacks alone can drive long-term value, arguing that market trust and community confidence play a bigger role in determining crypto valuations.
In a post on X on July 17, Ansem compared Hyperliquid’s HYPE token with Pump.fun’s PUMP, noting that both projects generate significant revenue and regularly buy back their tokens. Despite those similarities, the two assets trade at vastly different valuations.
i have a thesis that buybacks don’t actually work
hyperliquid makes $800M annualized revenue
pump fun makes $440M annualized revenue$HYPE trades at $65B FDV while $PUMP trades at $1.4B FDVboth teams do regularly recurring buybacks with portions of their profits from the…
— Ansem 🐂🀄️ (@blknoiz06) July 16, 2026
According to Ansem, Hyperliquid generates about $800 million in annualized revenue and has a fully diluted valuation (FDV) of roughly $65 billion. Pump.fun, meanwhile, generates about $440 million in annualized revenue but has an FDV of only $1.4 billion.
Why do similar buyback strategies produce different valuations?
Ansem said the gap between the two projects suggests that buybacks alone are not enough to support higher valuations.
He argued that investors also place value on factors such as a project’s credibility, consistent execution, and relationship with its community. According to him, these qualities create a “trust premium” that goes beyond revenue and financial metrics.
Hyperliquid, he said, has built confidence by delivering products without making unrealistic promises and by rewarding users based on measurable activity. That approach, in his view, has helped HYPE attract a much higher valuation.
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Hyperliquid and Pump.fun continue aggressive token buybacks
Both projects have committed large sums to buying back their native tokens.
Hyperliquid operates one of the largest token repurchase programs in the crypto industry through its Assistance Fund, which uses most protocol fees to buy HYPE on the open market. By May 2026, the fund had spent more than $1.3 billion on token buybacks.
Pump.fun has also supported PUMP through buybacks and token burns. Before the platform’s July vesting event, it had spent $233 million repurchasing 62.2 billion PUMP tokens, then carried out a major burn.
On July 15, Pump.fun also distributed 57.279 billion PUMP, worth about $86.49 million, to 121 team and investor wallets, marking the start of a three-year vesting period following a one-year lockup. The transfers made the tokens movable but did not indicate that recipients had sold them.
Can a stronger community trust narrow the valuation gap?
Ansem believes Pump.fun’s biggest challenge is community confidence rather than its financial strategy.
He pointed to the platform’s long-discussed user airdrop, which has yet to be distributed, as a factor that has weakened alignment with users. Pump.fun co-founder Alon Cohen said in July 2025 that the airdrop remained planned but would not be launched immediately.
According to Ansem, improving communication and delivering the expected airdrop could help strengthen community trust and potentially improve PUMP’s valuation over time.
He also pointed to Bitcoin as an example of what he described as the ultimate trust premium. Despite generating no business revenue, Bitcoin’s fixed supply of 21 million coins and long-established network rules have helped it achieve a far higher market valuation.
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