Top Altcoins With Latest Buyback, Burns, and Unlocks to Consider in Q1

The Jupiter team has proposed halting the buyback program to facilitate growth initiatives.

The decentralized wireless network has halted its HNT token buyback program.

Related: Most Altcoins Wont Survive 2026: Michaël van de Poppe

Major Token Unlocks

The Hyperliquid‘s core contributors unlocked about 3.25% of the HYPE’s total supply, which is valued at about $307 million, on January 6, 2026. The inflationary event on the token‘s circulating supply has weighed down on the token’s bullish outlook, whereby it dropped 5% in the past 24 hours to trade at about $26 at press time.

On January 5, 2026, the Ethena community unlocked 2.37% of ENA‘s total circulating supply. The dilution of ENA with around $40 million has increased the token’s selling pressure, thus its 7% drop today to trade about $0.22 at press time.

Tokenomics shift

The AAVE protocol has grown to a major lending and borrowing web3 protocol on Ethereum and other chains. As such, the AAVE protocol announced plans to distribute non-protocol revenue to token holders.

Main Reason Why Alt Tokenomics is a Major Factor in 2026

A decline in a given altcoins circulating supply amid its rising demand is fuel for bullish sentiment.

After witnessing the underperformance of Bitcoin Q4 2025, the altcoin market is expected to outshine other sectors in 2026. Capital rotation from the precious metal industry, amid rising global money supply, is expected to fuel a major short-squeeze and fulfil Wall Streets expectations of a crypto supercycle.

Furthermore, the wider altcoin market is expected to gain regulatory clarity in the United States, potentially before the end of the first quarter. As such, investors risk-on behavior will largely benefit altcoins with higher buyback and burn programs as observed with Binance coin (BNB), and Shiba Inu (SHIB), which have burned a significant supply in the past years.