Jupiter Exchange Considers Ending JUP Buyback as Airdrop Size Gets Slashed

Jupiter Exchange is hitting the brakes on its buyback program—just as its token airdrop takes a major haircut.

The Buyback Backtrack

The decentralized exchange is reportedly re-evaluating its commitment to repurchasing JUP tokens from the open market. The move signals a potential pivot in capital allocation strategy, raising eyebrows among liquidity providers who counted on the program for price support.

Airdrop Gets the Axe

Simultaneously, the platform has significantly reduced the scale of its planned token distribution. The slashed airdrop size suggests a recalibration of user incentives—or perhaps a simple case of arithmetic meeting reality in a bear market. It’s the crypto equivalent of a restaurant shrinking portion sizes while keeping prices the same.

Community Calculus

For JUP holders, the one-two punch creates fresh uncertainty. Buybacks often act as a synthetic demand engine, while airdrops fuel network growth. Scaling back both mechanisms forces a hard look at the token’s fundamental utility beyond speculative trading.

The Bottom Line

Jupiter’s dual retreat highlights the delicate dance DeFi projects perform between tokenomics and treasury management. Sometimes the most bullish move is to stop throwing money at the problem—unless you’re a VC, in which case it’s just another Tuesday.

Jupiter Exchange, a major Solana-based DEX aggregator, is rethinking its JUP token buyback plan after spending over $70 million with little effect on price, as JUP still trades 89% below its all-time high. 

At the same time, the platform has reduced its JUP airdrop from $700 million to $200 million to ease pressure.

Jupiter Exchange Plan To End JUP Buyback

In a recent post, Siong, a core member of the Jupiter Exchange team, asked the community if stopping the JUP buyback could be better for the project. He shared that Jupiter spent over $70 million on buybacks last year, but the token price barely moved.

This raised a simple question, instead of buying tokens, should the money be used to build and grow the platform? 

Siong says that the JUP team suggested using the funds for user rewards, new features, and better incentives.

what do you all think if we stop the JUP buyback?

we spent more than 70m on buyback last year and the price obviously didn’t MOVE much.

we can use the 70m to give out for growth incentives for existing and new users.

should we do it?

Joining the discussion on X, Amir Haleem, founder of Helium (HNT), responded with his experience. According to Haleem, markets no longer reward token buybacks as they once did.

He said that Helium and Helium Mobile generated $3.4 million in revenue in October alone, and the team has decided to use that money to grow real users, expand its network, and build partnerships, rather than buying tokens.

JUP Buybacks Show Limited Price Impact

Earlier reports and governance talks show that Jupiter spent a large share of its revenue on JUP buybacks over the past year. The exchange had promised to use 50% of its protocol fees to buy back JUP and lock the tokens for three years to reduce supply and support long-term value.

Despite these efforts, the JUP token price is still down about 89% from its all-time high of $1.83.

The token is now trading NEAR $0.205, close to multi-month lows, and has underperformed many other Solana-based tokens, even though Jupiter’s platform continues to grow strongly.

JUP Airdrop Size Reduced to Cut Selling Pressure

Along with the buyback talk, Jupiter also shared big changes to its JUP airdrop. The total airdrop has been cut from 700 million JUP to 200 million JUP. This move aims to reduce selling pressure once tokens are distributed.

Out of these, 175 million JUP will go to active community users, while 25 million JUP are set aside for people who stake JUP.

In addition, 200 million JUP are reserved only for stakers. Another 300 million JUP will stay locked to support JupNet’s long-term growth, and 300 million more will be used for ecosystem rewards, with no near-term selling.

The final snapshot for the airdrop is set for January 30, 2026, with $0.20 marked as the last entry price.