Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan says several major crypto tokens are doing a better job of capturing value for their holders. In a series of articles, he explained that the market may overlook this change during the current downturn.
Hougan started with UNI, which he called the clearest example. For years, the main criticism leveled at UNI was that it only acted as a token of governance. Even though Uniswap is one of the largest decentralized exchanges, activity on the platform has not directly benefited UNI holders.
That could now change. The community is currently considering a vote on a feature often referred to as a “fee change.” If approved, around 16% of trading fees would be used to burn UNI. Hougan believes this could help the token climb toward the top of the market over time.
1/ A source of alpha is recognizing the big news stories that get lost in the shuffle. In the chaos of the current market downturn, a lot is getting lost in the shuffle.
An example: tokens are increasingly capable of capturing value. I will cover three examples: UNI, ETH and XRP.
– Matt Hougan (@Matt_Hougan) November 22, 2025
Ethereum’s Fusaka Upgrade Increases Revenue Capture
Hougan also highlighted Ethereum, noting that its upcoming Fusaka upgrade, expected in December, could strengthen its value capture. He said the update introduces minimum fees for Layer 2 networks that publish data to Ethereum. Research groups estimate that this could increase Ethereum’s revenue five to ten times when combined with other changes.
Hougan expects the market to pay more attention once the upgrade goes live. He called it an underrated catalyst that could support Ethereum during the next market rally.
2/ UNI is the most obvious. The big problem with UNI has always been that it is a guarantee of governance. Uniswap is great, but the activity on Uniswap has not benefited UNI token holders.
– Matt Hougan (@Matt_Hougan) November 22, 2025
XRP explores new business models
The latest example is XRP, where the community has started discussing new ways to increase the utility of the tokens. Hougan noted that ideas such as staking are attracting more and more interest. If adopted, these models would change the way value flows to XRP holders and reshape the long-term economics of the token.
5/ Among other things, Fusaka introduces a minimum rate for recording layer 2 data. @DigitalAssets wrote an excellent report on this. With other significant changes, this could enable 5-10x revenue capture by blockchain.
– Matt Hougan (@Matt_Hougan) November 22, 2025
Hougan said the common thread between UNI, ETH and XRP is simple: value capture is increasing in the crypto sector. Many tokens were initially designed with limited economic features due to regulatory uncertainty. As the rules evolve, he believes projects will feel the impact of greater value capture from 2026 onwards.
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