Space Review｜Focusing on the Second Half of the DeFi Track: How Does JST's Buyback and Burn Practice Long-termism?

DeFi was once the core narrative of the crypto market, but as the high APY and liquidity dividends recede, the market is gradually returning to rationality. Today's users are no longer simply buying into stories; they are starting to ponder more fundamental questions: in the current environment, why should one continue to use DeFi? What kind of mechanism can truly endure through industry cycles?

Centered on these questions, this Space session delved into a deep discussion. Focusing on the shift in DeFi's narrative and value anchors, as well as the JST buyback and burn mechanism within the TRON ecosystem, the guests dissected the evolutionary logic of DeFi from being "high-APY driven" to "real-yield driven." They also explored what kind of DeFi projects can survive bull and bear markets when market attention is diverted by AI and RWA. Below are the highlights from this dialogue.

As the Tide Recedes, the Core Opportunity in DeFi's New Cycle Lies in Deeply Cultivating "Real Demand"

Against the backdrop of rapidly rotating narratives in the current crypto market, is DeFi still the main theme for the next cycle? Will its position be replaced? On this issue, multiple guests unanimously agreed that DeFi still occupies an unshakable position in the crypto market, but its narrative and value anchors have undergone a fundamental shift.

币圈Peter first deconstructed the current market structure. He believes the market's value stratification is becoming increasingly evident. The AI sector carries the immense imagination brought by technological innovation, Memecoins carry the community's sentiment, and RWA holds stories of policy expectations and incremental capital. These three sectors have a natural advantage in attracting short-term traffic and speculative funds because they are "easier to tell stories about."

However, Peter pointedly noted that the focus of attention does not equate to the accumulation of value. Especially once the market enters a phase of consolidation and correction, funds quickly shift from speculation to seeking safe havens, looking for sectors with "verifiable data." He pointed out that the essence of DeFi is financial infrastructure, not a trend product reliant on narratives or the fulfillment of expectations. As long as there are assets and trading needs on-chain, the value of DeFi will naturally amplify with the market's recovery. This is the underlying logic for its ability to endure cycles. Mr. Mi Si similarly pointed out that without DeFi as the foundational liquidity pool and financial Lego, emerging sectors simply cannot support massive capital inflows. Therefore, even if the sentiment-driven waves recede in the future, capital flows will ultimately return to DeFi as the core zone.

While affirming DeFi's "cornerstone" status, the guests also noted its changing role. Unlike its absolute dominance during "DeFi Summer," having gone through cycles, DeFi is settling into infrastructure akin to water and electricity. HiSeven believes that for DeFi to truly lead value as a main theme in the next phase, the market's evaluation criteria will change: in the past, people valued the wealth effect of high APY and short-term liquidity incentives. In the next cycle, real users, real protocol revenue, and long-term sustainable operational mechanisms will be the core.

HiSeven added three specific dimensions for screening projects in the future: real protocol revenue and distribution capability, sustained user retention and repurchase behavior, and sustainable mechanisms that can still operate in a cold market. He asserted that the core opportunity in the next phase of DeFi is no longer telling more novel stories, but rather making those existing, yet not fully priced, real demands bigger, deeper, and more solid.

The New Narrative for DeFi's Second Half: How is JST Charting an Independent Course with its Buyback and Burn Mechanism?

Synthesizing the views of the guests, the direction of DeFi's next phase of evolution is clear: the era of extensive growth driven by high leverage and inflated APY is coming to an end. A new stage, driven by real demand, anchored by protocol revenue, and rebuilding trust through data transparency, is beginning. Against this backdrop, the TRON DeFi ecosystem, with its tangible JST buyback and burn, exemplifies a substantive leap from "traffic thinking" to "value thinking."

JST is the governance token of the JUST protocol within the TRON ecosystem. Its buyback and burn mechanism is an institutional arrangement deeply tied to protocol revenue, passed via community proposal. On October 21, 2025, the community proposal was formally passed, deciding to allocate the existing earnings and future net income of JustLend DAO, as well as the portion of USDD multi-chain ecosystem revenue exceeding $10 million, in full for buyback and burn. This, at its core, establishes a self-reinforcing closed loop: "more revenue → more buybacks → more burns → stronger deflation."

Once the mechanism is established, the real test is execution. Looking back over the six months from October 2025 to the present, JST has efficiently completed three rounds of large-scale buyback and burn, with a tight schedule and increasing investment intensity with each round:

• First Round (Late October 2025): Approximately $17.72 million was invested, burning about 559 million JST, accounting for 5.66% of the total supply.
• Second Round (January 15, 2026): The burn intensity significantly increased, with approximately $21 million invested, burning about 525 million JST, accounting for 5.30% of the total supply.
• Third Round (April 15, 2026): Approximately $21.30 million was invested, burning about 271 million JST, accounting for 2.74% of the total supply.

Combined, the three rounds have cumulatively invested over $60 million, permanently burning approximately 1.356 billion JST, accounting for 13.7% of the total token supply. Based on JST's recent market price of around $0.08, the total value of the burned tokens has exceeded $100 million.

The most direct effect of the sustained, tangible buyback and burn is reflected in JST's token performance. Before the buyback and burn plan commenced, JST's price hovered around $0.032. By December 2025, the price had rapidly climbed to around $0.045, a stage increase of about 40%. As of the end of March 2026, the cumulative six-month increase was close to 100%, and it continued to rise thereafter, breaking through $0.085 at its peak, representing an increase of over 160% compared to before the mechanism's launch. Even in a market environment where Bitcoin saw a concurrent decline of over 37% at one point, JST still charted an independent course.

The true significance of this mechanism lies in its deep binding of token value to the protocol's fundamentals. As Web3 Caicaizi noted, all three rounds of JST burns used the protocol's real net income, without a single cent of external subsidy. This marks the project's formation of a positive flywheel: "real demand generates revenue, and protocol revenue feeds back to token holders." It also establishes a long-term, verifiable value anchor for the entire sector.

Ultimately, DeFi is moving past its phase of wild growth and returning to the essence of finance. Whether it's the deep cultivation of real demand or deflationary mechanisms like JST's, supported by actual protocol revenue, both reflect a substantive shift in market focus towards "sustainability." In future cycles, setting aside inflated expectations, those DeFi projects that can solidly capture value, establish healthy revenue distribution mechanisms, and speak with transparent data will truly possess the fundamentals for long-term development.