What could affect the price of LEO?
LEO faces a mix of factors from its token design and market conditions.
- Buyback Program – Monthly token burns funded by iFinex revenue could reduce supply
- Exchange Competition – LEO has outperformed some rivals but competes with BNB’s strong market position
- Regulatory Risks – Bitfinex’s legal challenges create ongoing uncertainty
In-Depth Look
1. Buyback Program (Positive for Price)
What’s Happening:
iFinex, the company behind Bitfinex, uses at least 27% of its revenue each month to buy back and permanently remove LEO tokens from circulation. This reduces the total number of tokens available—currently about 923 million—and continues until all tokens are bought back.
Why It Matters:
If demand for LEO stays steady, these regular buybacks could push the price up by making tokens scarcer. However, Bitfinex’s revenue can fluctuate due to changes in trading volume or when tokens like MATIC and SAND were removed in July 2025, which might cause irregular buybacks. Still, LEO’s price has held up well, trading only about 10% below its all-time high as of August 2025, showing this approach has helped support its value.
2. Competition Among Exchange Tokens (Mixed Effects)
What’s Happening:
LEO is the second-largest exchange token by market value at $8.75 billion but is far behind Binance Coin (BNB), which dominates with $105 billion. LEO’s price has been more stable, with smaller drops compared to competitors like CRO, but it offers fewer features than BNB, which operates across multiple blockchains.
Why It Matters:
LEO’s value depends heavily on Bitfinex’s specialized services, such as margin trading. While BNB’s large ecosystem limits LEO’s growth during big market rallies, LEO’s lower price swings might appeal to investors looking for less risk during market downturns.
3. Regulatory and Operational Risks (Potential Downsides)
What’s Happening:
Bitfinex has faced serious challenges, including a $71 million hack in 2016 and ongoing legal scrutiny, such as a 2022 U.S. sanctions violation case. The company has also recently removed over 10 tokens and updated its payment platform to comply with regulations, which could temporarily reduce revenue.
Why It Matters:
Any new legal issues or security problems could hurt iFinex’s income, reducing its ability to buy back LEO tokens. Additionally, LEO’s low daily trading volume (0.0188%) means it could be more vulnerable to price drops during market stress.
Summary
LEO’s price will likely be influenced by the balance between its buyback-driven scarcity and the risks tied to Bitfinex’s operations and competition from bigger players like BNB. The buyback program offers solid support, but regulatory challenges and BNB’s market dominance limit how high LEO’s price can go. Key question: Will Bitfinex maintain or grow its revenue after removing certain tokens to keep up the buyback program?
What are people saying about LEO?
The community around UNUS SED LEO (LEO) is feeling a mix of quiet confidence and cautious optimism. Here’s what’s currently shaping the conversation:
- Buybacks support price stability – Bitfinex burns 27% of its revenue each month, which helps keep holders loyal.
- Better performance than competitors – LEO is down only 10% from its highest price, while similar tokens have dropped 40–60%.
- Partnerships in privacy technology – Collaboration with Dash suggests potential for expanding LEO’s real-world uses.
In-Depth Look
1. @hitbtc: Monthly token burns strengthen LEO’s value — positive sign
“iFinex buys back & burns ≥27% of revenue monthly at market rates”
– @hitbtc (1.2M followers · 12.3K impressions · 2025-08-01 12:03 UTC)
See original post
What this means: This is a positive factor for LEO because regularly removing tokens from circulation reduces supply. At the same time, demand is linked directly to Bitfinex’s revenue growth. With LEO trading at $9.48 (about 10% below its peak), this buyback system helps create a price floor during market ups and downs.
2. CryptoQuant: LEO shows strong resilience compared to other exchange tokens — positive sign
“LEO -10% from ATH vs. rivals’ 40–60% drops”
– CryptoQuant via CoinMarketCap (2025-08-05 22:58 UTC)
Read full analysis
What this means: This is a good sign for LEO because it shows investors prefer tokens with clear benefits, like fee discounts, and solid token management. LEO’s market cap of $8.75 billion now ranks it second among exchange tokens, just behind BNB.
3. @Dashpay: LEO enables memoless swaps in THORChain ecosystem — neutral impact
“LEO delivered first memoless swaps in THORChain ecosystem”
– @Dashpay (890K followers · 8.1K impressions · 2025-07-16 19:09 UTC)
See original post
What this means: This is neutral for LEO right now. While it’s a technical achievement that improves LEO’s ability to work across different blockchain networks, it hasn’t yet led to significant trading volume. The success of this feature depends on how widely Dash-LEO cross-chain liquidity pools are adopted.
Conclusion
The overall outlook on LEO is cautiously optimistic. Its strong tokenomics and steady buybacks attract conservative investors, but adoption remains somewhat niche. Trading volume over the past 24 hours is $1.65 million, which is low compared to competitors. Watch for volume consistently above $5 million to signal a potential breakout.
What is the latest news about LEO?
UNUS SED LEO (LEO) is holding strong despite market ups and downs, thanks to steady demand and smart token burns. Here’s what’s new:
- Strong Performance (August 6, 2025) – LEO only dropped 10% from its highest price, beating other exchange tokens.
- Monthly Token Buybacks (August 1, 2025) – iFinex burns over 27% of its revenue each month by buying back LEO tokens.
- Market Outperformer (August 19, 2025) – LEO gained 1.5% even as Bitcoin’s price fell below $115,000.
In-Depth Look
1. Market Outperformer (August 19, 2025)
What happened: LEO’s price went up by about 1.5% to $9.48, while Bitcoin dropped 2% to $113,928 and the overall crypto market fell by nearly 1.5%. At the same time, total trading volume jumped over 53% to $192.67 billion, showing that investors might be moving money into more stable assets like LEO.
Why it matters: LEO’s price stayed steady because of its low volatility and Bitfinex’s ongoing buyback program, which helps support the token’s value. However, LEO’s daily trading volume is relatively low ($1.65 million compared to its $8.47 billion market cap), meaning its price could be more sensitive to big trades in the future.
(Source: The Crypto Times)
2. Strong Resilience (August 6, 2025)
What happened: Data from CryptoQuant shows LEO is trading just 10% below its all-time high, while competitors like CRO and OKB are down 40-60%. This strength comes from Bitfinex’s strategy of burning tokens based on revenue and strong demand for lending on the platform.
Why it matters: With a market cap of $8.3 billion (ranked 26th), LEO’s value reflects investor trust in its design, which limits supply to increase scarcity. But Bitfinex faces legal challenges and recently removed 10 tokens from its platform in July 2025, which could reduce revenue and affect the token burn program.
(Source: CryptoNewsLand)
3. Monthly Buyback Program (August 1, 2025)
What happened: iFinex confirmed it will continue burning at least 27% of its revenue from Bitfinex and Tether each month by buying back LEO tokens at market prices. This follows recent platform changes like removing MATIC and swapping EOS tokens.
Why it matters: This buyback creates consistent demand for LEO, helping support its price. The success of this depends on Bitfinex’s trading activity. With derivatives open interest reaching $1.06 trillion (up 23% month-over-month), there’s potential for more revenue. However, ongoing regulatory scrutiny could pose risks.
(Source: HitBTC on X)
Conclusion
LEO’s steady performance is driven by Bitfinex’s tokenomics and its role as a stable option during market swings. But since it relies heavily on one platform, there’s some risk involved. Looking ahead, will increased institutional investment in exchange tokens boost LEO’s token burns and scarcity? Or will regulatory challenges slow down its growth? Time will tell.
What is expected in the development of LEO?
UNUS SED LEO’s roadmap centers on improving token economics, upgrading platform features, and strengthening its overall ecosystem.
- Monthly Token Burns (Ongoing) – iFinex uses at least 27% of its revenue to buy back and permanently remove LEO tokens from circulation.
- Bitfinex Pay Transition (September 15, 2025) – The payment system for merchants will switch to Estable Pay, changing how crypto payments are processed.
- Post-Hack Recovery Buybacks (Date TBD) – Bitfinex plans to use recovered Bitcoin to buy back LEO tokens, following court orders.
In-Depth Look
1. Monthly Token Burns (Ongoing)
What’s Happening:
iFinex regularly buys back LEO tokens using a significant portion of its revenue (at least 27%) and then destroys those tokens. This process, called “burning,” reduces the total number of tokens available.
Why It Matters:
By lowering the supply of LEO tokens, this strategy can help support the token’s value, especially during times when the market is unpredictable. However, since there’s no set end date for these burns, it’s unclear how long this effect will last.
2. Bitfinex Pay Transition (September 15, 2025)
What’s Happening:
Bitfinex Pay, the system that lets merchants accept cryptocurrency payments, will be replaced by a new service called Estable Pay. While the backend technology is changing, LEO tokens will still be used for fee discounts as before.
Why It Matters:
This change is mostly technical and doesn’t directly affect the LEO token’s use. Still, a smoother payment system could encourage more merchants and users to engage with the platform, which might increase demand for LEO over time.
3. Post-Hack Recovery Buybacks (Date TBD)
What’s Happening:
After a major hack in 2016, Bitfinex recovered a large amount of Bitcoin (about 94,000 BTC, valued around $9.4 billion as of September 2025). The company plans to use these funds to buy back LEO tokens, as required by court orders.
Why It Matters:
This could significantly reduce the number of LEO tokens available, potentially boosting their value. However, the timing is uncertain, and there’s a risk that selling large amounts of Bitcoin quickly could disrupt the market.
Conclusion
UNUS SED LEO’s future depends on ongoing token burns, upgrading payment systems, and using recovered assets wisely. While the switch to Estable Pay is a clear step forward, the impact of the post-hack buybacks will depend on how and when Bitfinex manages the Bitcoin sales to avoid shaking the market. Balancing these factors will be key to maintaining stability and growth for LEO.
What updates are there in the LEO code base?
UNUS SED LEO’s recent software updates focus on improving how it works with other blockchain networks and enhancing technical features.
- Memoless Swaps Integration (July 16, 2025) – Made it possible to swap tokens across different blockchains without needing extra transaction details, thanks to a partnership with THORChain.
- Vaulta Chain Support (June 18, 2025) – Added support for Vaulta (formerly EOS), allowing continued token swaps and services after the blockchain’s rebranding.
Deep Dive
1. Memoless Swaps Integration (July 16, 2025)
What happened: UNUS SED LEO teamed up with Maya Protocol and THORChain to introduce “memoless swaps.” This means users can now exchange tokens between LEO and other blockchains like Dash without having to include special transaction notes called memos.
This update makes the swapping process simpler and less prone to mistakes, improving the overall user experience. Behind the scenes, the system was adjusted to handle important transaction information outside the blockchain, reducing complexity.
Why it matters: This is a positive development for LEO because it makes decentralized trading easier and more accessible. By lowering barriers, it could attract more users to Bitfinex’s platform and encourage wider use of LEO in decentralized finance (DeFi) across multiple blockchains.
(Dash)
2. Vaulta Chain Support (June 18, 2025)
What happened: Bitfinex updated LEO’s technology to support Vaulta, the new name and version of the EOS blockchain. This update restored services like staking (earning rewards by holding tokens) and trading pairs involving Vaulta.
To make this work, the system’s validators (which confirm transactions) and wallets were updated to recognize Vaulta’s new token format. Any existing EOS tokens were automatically converted to Vaulta tokens at a 1:1 ratio.
Why it matters: This update is neutral for LEO’s value but important for keeping the platform compatible with changing blockchain networks. It ensures users who hold assets from older blockchains like EOS can continue using them without interruption.
(Bitfinex)
Conclusion
LEO’s recent updates show a clear focus on making the token more useful across different blockchains and keeping up with changes in the crypto ecosystem. The memoless swaps feature offers real benefits by simplifying cross-chain trading, while Vaulta support is part of routine system upkeep. Moving forward, it will be interesting to see how LEO uses these improvements to stand out in the competitive world of exchange tokens.