Famous KOL Ansem Points Out That Token Buybacks Are Not the Core of Valuation, Trust Premium Determines Differences
Famous crypto KOL Ansem stated that token buybacks may not effectively support valuation. Hyperliquid has an annual revenue of about $800 million, while Pump.fun has about $440 million. Both continuously buy back tokens with part of their profits, but HYPE's FDV is about $65 billion, while PUMP's is only about $1.4 billion.
He believes the main reason for the valuation difference is not revenue, but the trust premium formed by team behavior and market decisions. Hyperliquid rarely overcommits, continuously launches products, and rewards core users based on preset metrics, resulting in high trust between the team and the community.
Pump.fun has generated about $1 billion in revenue and raised $1 billion through ICO, but the promised user airdrop has not been fulfilled. Ansem believes that if the airdrop is fulfilled and core user concerns are addressed, PUMP's price could rise by 10 to 15 times, driving up trading volume, attention, and revenue.
Ansem also cited Bitcoin as an example, which has no revenue but a market cap of about $1.3 trillion. Its value comes from a fixed supply of 21 million and the trust formed by the network's continuous operation, emphasizing that trust, meme effects, and attention are also crucial beyond tangible indicators like revenue.
Source: Public Information
ABAB AI Insight
Ansem, as a long-active KOL, has previously provided accurate commentary on memecoins and DeFi projects. This time, he directly pointed out that Hyperliquid accumulates trust through consistent execution and user rewards, while Pump.fun, despite strong revenue, faces community division due to unmet airdrop promises. He has previously publicly called for Pump.fun to address user demands.
In terms of capital pathways, Hyperliquid uses most of its trading fees for HYPE buybacks and burns, creating a mechanical demand engine. Pump.fun also implements buybacks and burns, but the lack of trust limits valuation expansion, with funds concentrating from low-trust projects to high-execution teams.
Similar to Bitcoin, which builds global trust premiums through fixed supply and decentralized operation, current crypto market projects like Hyperliquid are in the trust-building phase of DeFi infrastructure, while memecoin platforms like Pump.fun need to restore social contracts by fulfilling promises.
This essentially represents a transfer of pricing power: team execution and community trust become scarce resources, with high-trust projects achieving higher valuation multiples. When technology and revenue are comparable, attention and meme effects dominate the capital redistribution from low-trust assets to high-trust assets.
ABAB News · Cognitive Law
Revenue is the foundation, trust is the multiplier.
Buybacks and burns are easy, fulfilling promises is hard; the long-term outcome hinges on this.
Fixed scarcity and reliable operation surpass short-term high revenue and empty promises.