Buyback and Burn: How Crypto Projects Reduce Supply and Boost Value

When a crypto project does a buyback and burn, a process where a company purchases its own tokens from the market and permanently removes them from circulation. Also known as token destruction, it’s a way to make the remaining tokens scarcer — and potentially more valuable. It’s not magic. It’s basic economics: less supply, same or growing demand, equals higher price pressure. You see this most often in coins with strong ecosystems, like Binance Coin, the native token of the world’s largest crypto exchange, which uses a quarterly buyback and burn to reduce its total supply. BNB started with 200 million tokens. After over 20 burns, it’s down to under 150 million. That’s not just a number — it’s real scarcity built into the tokenomics.

But not every buyback and burn is the same. Some projects use profits from fees, like DeFi exchanges, platforms that charge trading fees and use a portion to buy back their own tokens. Others use revenue from NFT sales, staking rewards, or even partnerships. The key is transparency. If a project says it’s burning tokens but doesn’t show the transaction on-chain, be skeptical. Real burns happen on the blockchain — you can verify them. Look for the burn address, the amount burned, and the timestamp. Projects like peaq, a blockchain focused on machine-to-machine economies, and even meme coins like DEGEN, a token built on Base with a community-driven burn schedule have used burn mechanics to signal commitment. But here’s the catch: if a project burns tokens while dumping on the market, it’s a trap. The burn has to be part of a larger plan — not a one-off PR stunt.

What you’re really looking for is consistency. Quarterly burns, like BNB’s, build trust. Random burns? Not so much. And remember — buyback and burn doesn’t fix a broken product. If the app is unused, the team is quiet, and no one’s trading, burning tokens won’t save it. But when you combine a strong use case with regular supply reduction? That’s when you start seeing real momentum. Below, you’ll find guides and reviews that show you exactly how this plays out in real projects — from the biggest exchanges to the smallest DeFi tokens. No fluff. Just what’s actually happening.