Valuations of crypto assets other than Bitcoin have the potential to at least double within the next 12 to 24 months. This prediction was made by Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan, who highlighted a key catalyst: a growing number of decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and layer-1 networks using fee revenue to buy back and burn their own tokens.
Developers are no longer just minting governance tokens without a clear economic function. This buyback and burn mechanism is shifting the industry’s direction. According to Hougan, investors in the current market have not yet factored this structural shift into pricing. As a result, many crypto assets in this sector remain undervalued.
Cash Flowing into Tokens
The trend of converting fee revenue into token value is already being implemented by several major names such as Hyperliquid, Uniswap, Aave, Pump.fun, and Lighter. In the Aave ecosystem, the buyback program run by the DAO has absorbed more than 205,000 AAVE tokens from the open market in just the first 10 months.
Aave founder Stani Kulechov has even reinforced this commitment. He ensured that 100% of the revenue from the Aave Protocol and the GHO stablecoin will be fully dedicated to appreciating the value of the AAVE token.
A similar step occurred at Uniswap. On December 22, 2025, the community approved the “UNIfication” proposal, which activated protocol fee collection. The collected cash is not left to pile up in the treasury, but is instead used to burn UNI tokens, creating supply scarcity and constant buying pressure.
The Fruits of Regulatory Easing
The boldness of crypto projects in distributing value directly to token holders did not emerge out of nowhere. Hougan assesses this shift as a result of a much more permissive United States regulatory environment following the end of the Donald Trump administration era.
In a statement on August 5, the Bitwise chief noted that regulatory guidance from the U.S. government is now clear enough. This clarity is believed to be capable of maintaining the expansion pace of the crypto industry going forward, even if highly anticipated major legislative frameworks, such as the CLARITY Act, fail to pass.
Real Limits of Decentralized Systems
Although this buyback mechanism at first glance closely resembles a corporation buying back its own shares, the legal foundation is vastly different. Crypto token holders still do not have legal claims to protocol cash flows, unlike investors holding shares of a public company.
In addition, decentralized governance systems also bring their own risks. A project’s token economics model can change at any time, provided the community approves a new proposal. There is no written guarantee that today’s burn program will continue next month. Buying crypto assets requires investors to place their trust in the direction of the majority vote, rather than in contracts bound by state law.
As reported by Cointelegraph.
Read also: What Is DeFi (Decentralized Finance)?
Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only, not financial advice. Cryptocurrency assets are highly volatile and carry significant risk. Always do your own research (DYOR) and never invest more than you can afford to lose.
