Buyback Pledges Explained: Why '40% of Fees' Is Not '40% of Volume'
A pledge to spend 40% of net fees on buybacks is not a pledge to spend 40% of trading volume. Fees are a small percentage of volume, and 'net' means after costs. The real buyback is often a tiny fraction of what the headline suggests.
On November 7, 2026, Kinetiq said Oku would use 40% of its net trading fees from its Elysium deployment to buy KNTQ on the open market and burn it. Headlines like this are easy to misread. Here is how to read any buyback pledge.
Volume, fees and net fees
- Volume is the total value traded.
- Fees are a small percentage of that volume that the platform charges.
- Net fees are what is left after costs such as partner shares or expenses. Exactly how "net" is defined matters, and is not always published.
A worked example
Suppose a platform sees $10 million of trading volume in a day. If its fee is 0.3%, it collects $30,000 in fees. If net fees are $20,000 after costs, a 40% pledge is $8,000 a day, or about $240,000 over 30 days. That is 0.08% of the daily volume. The numbers are made up to show the scale, not Oku's actual figures.
| Step | Example |
|---|---|
| Daily volume | $10,000,000 |
| Fee rate 0.3% | $30,000 |
| Net fees (assumed) | $20,000 |
| 40% to buyback | $8,000 a day |
| Share of volume | 0.08% |
What Oku actually announced
According to Coinranking, the 40% applies to net trading fees from Oku's Elysium deployment only. No fixed amount or schedule was given, and the size of each purchase scales with the volume Oku generates on Elysium. Purchased KNTQ goes to a burn address, which removes it from circulation.
How to judge any buyback claim
- Fees or volume? Make sure which one the percentage applies to.
- Net or gross? Ask how net is defined.
- Is there a schedule or a minimum? No schedule means the amount is whatever the activity produces.
- Is the burn visible on chain? You should be able to find the burn address and see the transfers on an explorer. See the block explorer guide.
- Compare with supply and unlocks. A buyback is meaningful only compared with the tokens that can come to market. See the KNTQ unlock page.
A buyback can support a price, but it does not guarantee it. The same logic applies to creator buybacks on launchpads, covered in creator fees explained. This is information, not advice.
Sources
- Coinranking: Oku pledges 40% of Elysium trading fees to KNTQ buybacks
- AirdropAlert: Elysium launch day
Numbers and dates were checked on November 10, 2026 and can change. Nothing here is financial advice.
FAQ
What does 40% of net fees mean?
It means 40% of what the platform keeps after costs from its trading fees, not 40% of the total traded volume.
How big is Oku's buyback?
No fixed amount was announced. The size scales with the volume Oku generates on Elysium, according to Coinranking.
Where do burned tokens go?
To a burn address, which removes them from circulation permanently.
Does a buyback guarantee a higher price?
No. It adds buying demand, but price depends on supply, demand and sentiment.
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