DYDX shoots up 10% as buybacks get a quarter of protocol revenue

Decentralized finance (DeFi) trading platform dYdX announced its first-ever token buyback program on March 24, aiming to reinvest in its ecosystem to enhance security and governance.

According to the announcement, 25% of the protocol’s net fees will be dedicated to monthly buybacks of its native dYdY (DYDX) token on the open market.

Following the announcement, DYDX surged over 10% and was trading at approximately $0.731 at the time of writing, according to CoinGecko. The token has gained more than 21% over the past two weeks.

DYDX spikes on buyback news. Source: CoinGecko

New dYdX distribution model

Previously, dYdX distributed 100% of its platform revenue to ecosystem participants. Under the new allocation model, 25% will be used for token buybacks, another 25% will fund its USDC liquidity provision program, MegaVault, 10% will be directed to its treasury, and the remaining 40% will continue as staking rewards.

dYdX noted that the current allocation of 25% to token buybacks could increase, with ongoing community discussions potentially pushing this percentage to as high as 100% over time.

The platform currently holds a total value locked (TVL) of $279 million, according to DefiLlama. It generated $1.29 million in revenue from fees in February and $1.09 million so far in March.

Token buybacks get 25% of revenue, which has been dropping. Source: DefiLlama

“DeFi festival” waits for summer to end

The DeFi industry commonly references the DeFi summer of 2020 as a benchmark, characterized by rapid user growth driven by yield farming and decentralized applications.

In a recent interview with Cointelegraph, dYdX Foundation CEO Charles d’Haussy predicted that the next significant DeFi boom would occur shortly after summer, potentially beginning as early as September and lasting “months and months.”

dYdX existed in mid-2020 primarily as a DeFi platform for spot trading, lending, borrowing, and margin trading. Its popularity popped in 2021 following the launch of its layer-2 perpetual futures exchange and the introduction of its native DYDX token.

In its 2024 ecosystem report, dYdX projected that the decentralized derivatives market would expand to $3.48 trillion by 2025, up from $1.5 trillion in derivatives volume processed by decentralized exchanges (DEXs) in 2024.

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