Coins are now equity: The rules of the coin market have changed... why we should now look at 'buybacks'

Summary

Jo Dong-hyun argues that crypto is no longer 'just coins' but equity-like, with token value increasingly tied to revenue-funded buybacks. He maps the market's cash flows from users and U.S. short-term Treasury yields through stablecoin issuers into exchanges, networks, and DeFi. The most actionable areas are buyback leaders like Hyperliquid, Uniswap, Arbitrum, and Chainlink, plus lending protocols and Circle, while token-equity IPO confusion hurts LayerZero.

• Crypto market composition has shifted from narrative and memecoin trading toward revenue and return-of-capital discipline.
• User fees and U.S. short-term Treasury yields via stablecoin issuers are the two main cash-flow sources into crypto.
• Exchanges and networks capture the largest fee pool; DEX and Layer 2 activity form the value chain.
• Buybacks funded by excess earnings are now the market standard, led by Hyperliquid, Uniswap, Arbitrum, and Chainlink.
• DeFi lending protocols such as Aave and Morpho benefit from stablecoin issuance and rising collateral demand.
• Circle is viewed as a short-term Treasury rate hedge via stablecoin issuance.
• Regulatory Clarity bill passage is the key risk to the buyback regime.
• Crypto projects pursuing stock listings risk token value confusion; LayerZero is cited as an example.