At the start of 2025, the DeFi track has welcomed a subtle shift — token holders who could only "pace alongside" before are finally able to get a taste of the benefits.

Let's start with the leading decentralized exchange. Uniswap has officially activated the fee switch mechanism, meaning protocol revenue is no longer directed entirely to liquidity providers. Instead, a portion is allocated for direct buybacks and burning of UNI tokens. What does this mean? It means the higher the on-chain trading activity, the more protocol revenue is generated, and the more direct rewards token holders receive — value capture has transformed from a paper commitment into real mechanism design.

Lending leader Aave is not to be outdone. They announced a $50 million token buyback plan while controlling the release rate of new tokens through the Umbrella upgrade. This combination of moves both supports secondary market demand and eases inflationary pressure. Established projects have finally figured out how to make token economics healthier.

Mantle, as a Layer 2 newcomer, is also exploring similar token value mechanisms, attempting to let ecosystem participants share the dividends of network growth. Behind this wave lies the maturation of the entire DeFi market — evolving from pure liquidity incentives to genuine value distribution. Tokenomics is gradually transitioning from theory to reality.