Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan on Wednesday said crypto is becoming a revenue-driven market and most investors have not noticed yet, creating a valuation gap that could double prices across major DeFi tokens.

Why Does Hougan Say Crypto Valuations Look too Low?

Hougan wrote in a Wednesday Bitwise note that for years, the biggest criticism of crypto was that tokens generated no revenue for holders. 

That changed when Paul Atkins replaced Gary Gensler at the SEC and Ripple (CRYPTO: XRP) won its landmark case in August 2025. 

Revenue is now back on the table and the biggest crypto projects are moving fast to capture it.

What Each Project Is Actually Doing

Each project runs the same playbook: generate real revenue, then use it to permanently buy and burn their own tokens, reducing supply the same way a stock buyback reduces share count.

Hyperliquid: $800M in Revenue, 99% Funneled Into Buybacks

Hyperliquid, as measured by Hyperliquid Strategies Inc (NASDAQ:PURR), generated over $800 million in revenue last year and uses roughly 99% of it to buy and burn HYPE tokens. 

Since launch, it has bought back $1.3 billion worth, permanently removing that supply from circulation.

Uniswap: A Record Burn and an All-Time-High Market Share

Uniswap (CRYPTO: UNI) burned 100 million UNI tokens worth roughly $590 million in December 2025 and now takes in about $100 million in annual revenue, all used to buy and burn more UNI. 

By July, its decentralized exchange (DEX) market share hit an all-time high, and the token is up 35% since July 1.

Aave and Pump.fun: Smaller Scale, Same Playbook

Aave (CRYPTO: AAVE) runs weekly buybacks through its Aavenomics 3.0 program and has repurchased more than 1.2% of total supply, targeting roughly $30 million in annual burns. 

Meanwhile, Pump.fun (CRYPTO: PUMP) has burned 36% of circulating supply and locked 50% of next year’s revenue into an irreversible buy-and-burn contract that cannot be paused or redirected.

Why Does Hougan Think This Opportunity Still Exists?

Hougan compared the setup to Facebook before it turned on advertising, when bears argued users would leave if ads appeared. 

Nobody left, revenue followed users, and valuations followed revenue. He sees the same dynamic playing out in DeFi right now.

He said Uniswap matches Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) for spot trading volume but trades at just $2.4 billion in market cap. 

Aave and Morpho (CRYPTO: MORPHO) together dominate on-chain lending at a combined $2.4 billion. 

Hyperliquid trades at 17x to 60x earnings depending on supply calculation, which Hougan called cheap for a fast-growing global fintech brand at scale.

Hougan’s conclusion is straightforward — valuations could double or more once the revenue story reaches investors outside crypto who still assume these assets generate nothing.

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