The Ether.fi DAO has proposed allocating up to $50 million from its treasury to repurchase ETHFI tokens whenever prices fall below the $3 mark, positioning the protocol as the latest major decentralised finance (DeFi) project to embrace strategic buybacks as a form of liquidity and price support.
The governance proposal, published on Thursday, would allow the Ether.fi Foundation to carry out open-market purchases while ETHFI trades below the threshold. At the time of the proposal, the token was down nearly 89% from its 2024 peak and was trading around $0.93 on 31 October, according to The Block’s market data, well within the proposed buyback range.
The plan will take effect immediately upon DAO approval and remain active until one of three outcomes occurs:
- The $50 million limit is reached,
- The foundation concludes the programme, or
- A new governance vote modifies or terminates it.
A Price-Triggered Approach to Market Stabilisation
Unlike typical corporate or DeFi buybacks scheduled by time or fixed budgets, Ether.fi’s strategy ties the trigger directly to a price level. The Foundation explained that the initiative is intended to “expand buy-back capacity in proportion to protocol revenues, particularly while ETHFI remains below $3,” ensuring an efficient use of surplus income to reinforce market confidence and gradually reduce circulating supply.
This marks Ether.fi’s third buyback initiative, following similar liquidity-support efforts under Proposals #8 and #10. All repurchases will be recorded transparently on-chain and monitored through Dune Analytics dashboards, allowing the community to track real-time execution and financial impact.
Ether.fi operates as a non-custodial liquid restaking and staking protocol built on Ethereum, allowing users to stake ETH and receive tradable tokens while still generating yields within and beyond the Ethereum network. The protocol currently commands approximately $10 billion in total value locked (TVL) and earns around $360 million in annualised fees, according to The Block’s data.
DeFi’s Buyback Boom Tops $1.4 Billion
Ether.fi’s proposal reflects a broader, accelerating shift within DeFi toward buyback-based capital management, mirroring strategies long used in traditional finance. According to data compiled by CoinGecko, total DeFi token buybacks have exceeded $1.4 billion in 2025, driven by major players such as Aave, Uniswap, Hyperliquid, Pump.fun, and OpenSea.
Earlier this quarter, Aave DAO unveiled a $50 million annual buyback plan, directly funded by protocol revenues, an initiative spearheaded by Aave Chan Initiative founder Marc Zeller to enhance token market depth. Meanwhile, NFT marketplace OpenSea has pledged to allocate half of its revenue toward buybacks of its forthcoming SEA token, expected to debut in early 2026.
Even World Liberty Financial, a controversial crypto venture linked to the Trump family, has adopted a buyback-and-burn model, using liquidity fees to retire governance tokens and support token scarcity.
This growing adoption underscores a maturing trend in DeFi, where protocols increasingly operate as revenue-generating entities reinvesting profits to reinforce tokenholder value and market sustainability.
A Sign of DeFi’s Maturing Financial Discipline
The buyback surge marks a significant evolution in how DeFi projects handle treasury management and market stability. Once reliant on token emissions and incentives, many now prefer self-sustaining mechanisms that emulate public-company financial practices.
The DeFi sector’s onchain revenues have rebounded sharply, surpassing $600 million in quarterly earnings, led by protocols like Uniswap and Aave, according to The Block Research. This financial recovery has enabled projects like Ether.fi to reallocate profits toward market stabilisation rather than aggressive expansion or incentive schemes.
Ether.fi’s governance proposal emphasises this shift, framing the buyback not just as a price support measure but as an alignment mechanism between protocol performance and community ownership. The Foundation wrote that the initiative aims to “strengthen market confidence and reinforce the link between protocol success and tokenholder value.”
Outlook: A New Era for DeFi Treasury Management
If approved, Ether.fi’s $50 million buyback would represent one of the largest single DAO-led repurchase programmes of 2025, potentially setting a precedent for how decentralised projects deploy surplus capital in bearish markets.
While critics argue that buybacks can create short-term price distortions, proponents see them as a healthy sign of financial maturity, showing that DeFi protocols are evolving beyond yield farming into sustainable, revenue-driven ecosystems.
With DeFi buybacks already surpassing $1.4 billion this year, Ether.fi’s move highlights a new era in which onchain governance and financial discipline converge, signalling a more resilient, investor-aligned future for the decentralised economy.
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