SEC clears regulatory hurdle as crypto token buybacks hit record $638 million

Crypto projects spent about $638 million with token buybacks through late August 2026, according to Allium Labs data.That is already a record, up from $545 million over the same stretch of 2025. Hyperliquid accounted for roughly $370 million and Pump.fun for about $200 million, together close to 90% of the total.On Sept. 25, staff at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) addressed the legal tension that has shadowed those programs since they began. The more openly a project ties its token to business returns, the easier it becomes to argue that holders are investing in a security.What SEC staff saidThe SEC's Division of Corporation Finance addressed buybacks in a new set of crypto FAQs covering networks that are already functional.Staff said an issuer's buyback announcement for a non-security crypto asset on such a network falls outside the promises of “essential managerial efforts” at the center of the Howey test for investment contracts.The same answer warns younger projects that on a network yet to reach functionality, pitching a buyback as a source of yield or returns can feed into an investment-contract analysis.The answer rests on two built-in assumptions, a functional...