- The altcoins market has been experiencing a notable change in tokenomics.
- Token buybacks and burns are bullish for the underlying buy and unlocks are often hawkish.
- Higher profit margins are expected in 2026 for altcoins with strong fundamentals and higher buyback and burn programs.
The altcoins industry has experienced a significant spike in tokenomics changes in the recent past. Ahead of the anticipated parabolic altseason in 2026, the altcoins industry has been making notable changes to their respective tokenomics to attract more retail and institutional investors globally.
Top Altcoins With Largest Buyback and Unlocks to Consider
Largest Alt Buyback and Burn Updates
The Uniswap protocol recorded around $1 trillion in trading volume in 2025. The Uniswap Labs crowned the successful year with burning 100 million UNI coins, valued at over $578 million, from the treasury in late December 2025.
The notable recent UNI burn coincided with its potential bottoming after a choppy 2025.
After recording an exponential growth in 2025, the Fluid protocol kick-started its FLUID token buyback and extended the program for long-term benefits to holders.
Source: X
The Jupiter team has proposed halting the buyback program to facilitate growth initiatives.
The decentralized wireless network has halted its HNT token buyback program.
Related: Most Altcoins Won’t Survive 2026: Michaël van de Poppe
Major Token Unlocks
The Hyperliquid’s core contributors unlocked about 3.25% of the HYPE’s total supply, which is valued at about $307 million, on January 6, 2026. The inflationary event on the token’s circulating supply has weighed down on the token’s bullish outlook, whereby it dropped 5% in the past 24 hours to trade at about $26 at press time.
On January 5, 2026, the Ethena community unlocked 2.37% of ENA’s total circulating supply. The dilution of ENA with around $40 million has increased the token’s selling pressure, thus its 7% drop today to trade about $0.22 at press time.
Tokenomics shift
The AAVE protocol has grown to a major lending and borrowing web3 protocol on Ethereum and other chains. As such, the AAVE protocol announced plans to distribute non-protocol revenue to token holders.
Main Reason Why Alt Tokenomics is a Major Factor in 2026
A decline in a given altcoin’s circulating supply amid its rising demand is fuel for bullish sentiment.
After witnessing the underperformance of Bitcoin Q4 2025, the altcoin market is expected to outshine other sectors in 2026. Capital rotation from the precious metal industry, amid rising global money supply, is expected to fuel a major short-squeeze and fulfil Wall Street’s expectations of a crypto supercycle.
Furthermore, the wider altcoin market is expected to gain regulatory clarity in the United States, potentially before the end of the first quarter. As such, investors’ risk-on behavior will largely benefit altcoins with higher buyback and burn programs as observed with Binance coin (BNB), and Shiba Inu (SHIB), which have burned a significant supply in the past years.
Related: US Crypto Bill Nears Markup as Key Disputes Remain Unresolved
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Source: https://coinedition.com/top-altcoins-with-latest-buyback-burns-and-unlocks-to-consider-in-q1/