Morning Minute: SEC Clears Token Buybacks for Crypto Networks

Morning Minute is a daily newsletter written by Tyler Warner. The analysis and opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Decrypt. And check out our daily news show ‘FOMO HOUR’ covering all of the top stories and market action.

GM!

Today’s top news:

• Crypto majors fall overnight after big weekly close; BTC -2% at $83k
• SEC updates FAQs and clears token buybacks for crypto protocols
• Citi partners with Coinbase for stablecoin support for institutions
• BTC ETFs close a $2.39B inflow week, 7-straight green days
• Pump flips Hyperliquid in revenue on week (PUMP +11%)

BitcoinBTC · USD

$83,329−2.35%

24H7D1M1YYTD

Sep 21Sep 23Sep 25Sep 26Sep 28

$87.2k$85.7k$84.2k$82.7k

24h HighHigh$85,089

24h LowLow$82,581

VolVol$1.4B

Market projectionsOdds by Myriad

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$50$100$500

Buy

⚖️ SEC Clears Token Buybacks for Crypto Networks

The SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance updated its crypto FAQ Friday with the most consequential line it has written all year. Once a network is functional, announcing a token buyback does not amount to a promise of “essential managerial efforts.”

The Howey test asks whether you’re buying something expecting a company to work and make you rich. If yes, it’s a security. The SEC just said announcing a buyback isn’t that kind of promise. It’s a huge deal for protocols who have essentially been in limbo ever since the prior administration’s war on crypto.

The staff went further. Maintaining, upgrading, or growing a functional network doesn’t satisfy Howey either. Neither does promoting what a network currently does, or making vague aspirational statements that don’t tout profit. Gabriel Shapiro, a securities attorney at MetaLeX Labs and former general counsel at Delphi Labs, said the buyback section “goes further than I expected” and that securities laws are starting to look opt-in as the SEC applies them to crypto.

Now, there’s a hard line on the other side. If a network isn’t functional yet and the issuer pitches a buyback as a source of yield or returns for holders, that can still trigger securities laws. So the guidance is a filter, not a blanket pass. Ship a working product and buy back your token, you’re fine. Promise returns before you have a product, you’re exposed.

So who are the winners of this announcement? DefiLlama tracks buyback programs at HYPE, PUMP, ENA, AAVE, SKY, LDO, PENDLE, AERO, RAY, JTO, NEAR, ETHFI, SYRUP, LIT, ASTER, KMNO, MET, CC, CARDS, PONS, and STONK, among others. Every one of those runs a live product with revenue. Hyperliquid routes USDC reserve yield into HYPE buybacks under AQAv2. Pump.fun has burned $451 million, about 16.6% of supply. Pons sends roughly 80% of V1 revenue to buybacks. Ethena’s holders voted to route 95% of net revenue to ENA. These were all built in a legal gray zone. They just came out of it.

The guidance quietly endorses the model the industry spent this year converging on: tokens as claims on protocol cash flow rather than bets on future development. That’s the revenue meta, and it now has regulatory approval. Time to re-rate all the good project tokens higher…

🌎 Macro Crypto and Markets

• Crypto majors are red after Bitcoin closed its highest week since January; BTC -2% at $83k; ETH -2% at $2,670; SOL -5% at $119; HYPE -4% at $90; ZEC -6% at $1,570
• Top alt movers include QNT (+45%), HBAR (+24%), PUMP (+12%) and Algo (+12%)
• Oil +4% at $96; Gold -3% at $4,185
• Stock futures are red as rates and oil go higher; DOW -0.5%, Nasdaq -0.8%
• Vitalik Buterin laid out where Ethereum goes by 2030, saying it won’t really be a blockchain anymore; instead of every computer redoing the same math, most of the work moves off-chain and gets checked with cryptographic proofs
• Solana’s upgrade to settle transactions in 150 milliseconds reached a second public test network, the step before it can go live
• Citi announced a partnership with Coinbase to provide stablecoin support for its institutional clients
• Prosecutors seized about $84 million from a payments firm that moved money for Tether and Bitfinex, saying the firm lied to Wells Fargo and JPMorgan about what it did to get bank accounts
• Analysts said Binance’s $100 million investment in Circle helps USDC close the gap with Tether, since the deal puts USDC in front of the biggest exchange’s users for the next five years
• Bitget reopened Bitcoin withdrawals Monday, four days after an attacker took about $388 million, with Ethereum coming Tuesday, USDT Wednesday, and everything else October 2; the exchange says it fixed the flaw and users keep their full balances
• One group took at least $18.43 million across 53 Robinhood Chain token launches between July 10 and September 21, according to analyst Wazz, mostly through Pons V2, with CRUMBS, LEGS, and PINK taking $3.12 million, $2.9 million, and $1.44 million.

Corporate Treasuries & ETFs

• The Bitcoin ETFs saw $135M in net inflows on Friday and closed a huge $2.39B week; the ETH ETFs saw $87M in inflows and closed a $690M week

Meme Coin Tracker

• Meme leaders were red down 5-7%; DOGE -5%, SHIB -5%, PEPE -4%, PENGU -5%, TRUMP -6%, SPX -7%, BONK -6%
• Robinhood chain leaders were mostly red; Pons -12% to $370M; AI -2% at $222M; Cashcat +5% at $188M; Wallet +115% and Delta +20% led top movers
• Solana top movers were led by e/acc +100%, SI +20% and Baton +50%; Ansem -7% to $160M
• Binance announced support for Marscoin with its SPCX reflection and 牛来 with QQQ

💰 Token, Airdrop & Protocol Tracker

🚚 What is happening in NFTs?

• NFT leaders were mostly red over the weekend; Punks even at 33.69 ETH, BAYC -10% at 6.25 ETH, Pudgy -4% at 3.27 ETH
• Ringers (+50%) and Kodas (+10%) led top movers