While top protocols like Hyperliquid, Pump.fun, and PancakeSwap have generated millions in revenue in the last 12 months, native tokens haven't displayed similar price trajectories. Per Grayscale, these tokens are undervalued.
Hyperliquid’s protocol revenue might be the key reason behind HYPE's impressive rally in the past year. That’s what Grayscale, one of the world’s largest asset management firms, shared in a recent report.
Crypto enthusiasts are not just paying attention to Hyperliquid, which has generated significant revenue, but also protocols like Pump.fun, PancakeSwap, Jupiter, Aave, Aerodrome, and many other projects. Notably, these projects have reported similar revenue surges.
Hyperliquid topped the 12-month protocol revenue rankings by generating $871 million; correspondingly, HYPE's price, jumped from $37.48 to $61.10.
Pump.fun, with a generated revenue of $459 million, was ranked second, followed by PancakeSwap with $322 million at third, and Sky with a revenue of $248 million at the fourth place. Jupiter, Aave, Aerodrome ($124 million), and World Liberty Financial also placed in the list ($105 million).
But their prices didn’t benefit as much as HYPE’s, as PUMP declined 81.25%, CAKE declined 40.05%, JUP plummeted 47%, AAVE plummeted 68.50%, AERO declined 41%, WLFI declined 74.20%, LDO declined 65%, MET declined 83.50%, ETFI declined 61.40%, LIT declined 41%, CARDS declined 2%, UNI declined 59%, and RAY declined 71.15%, respectively, during the same period.
Now, looking at these details, you might be wondering why protocol revenue only benefited HYPE token, not tokens like PUMP, CAKE, JUP, AAVE, AERO, WLFI, LDO, MET, ETHFI, LIT, CARDS, UNI, and RAY, even after consistent cash flow.
The key reason behind the HYPE rally seems to be its buyback program. As per the reports, the revenue that the Hyperliquid generated uses 97% of it to buy HYPE tokens directly from the open market and remove those tokens from the circulating supply.
The data also showcases that so far in May 2026, the firm has spent over $1.30 billion of revenue to buy HYPE tokens, equivalent to 28.50 million tokens.
In addition to token buyback, a massive surge in Total Value Locked (TVL) and DEX volume was recorded on the analytics platform, which also appears to be a key factor for HYPE's upside rally.
Data from DeFiLlama reveals that since 2024, Hyperliquid TVL surged from $2.036 billion to $5.859 billion, whereas DEX volume surged from $12.632 billion to $26.847 billion, both of these values more than double which suggests protocol mass adoption and indirectly benefited the HYPE rally.
As per asset management giant Grayscale’s assessment, these tokens (PUMP, CAKE, JUP, AAVE, AERO, WLFI, LDO, MET, ETHFI, LIT, CARDS, UNI, and RAY) are undervalued
Grayscale further stated: “Some of the top onchain apps by revenue have real cash flows, low overhead, and single-digit multiples, and with the CLARITY Act potentially weeks away, we believe investors are facing an attractive entry point today.” The head of research, Zach Pandl, also noted,
“Many revenue-producing crypto assets are trading at low multiples ahead of potential passage of the CLARITY Act, creating an attractive entry point for fundamental investors, in our view.”
For these revenue-producing protocols, the CLARITY Act could be a boon, as these applications bring the traditional finance rulebook to crypto assets. Pandle believes that specifically, CLARITY will help drive growth in tokenized assets and on-chain finance.
And almost all of the top 15 revenue-producing protocols are related to financial use cases or closely related utilities, such as oracles and staking infrastructure.
No comments yet
Be the first to share your take when accounts launch.
