Jupiter Announces Major Acquisitions, Token Buyback Program, Platform Overhaul at Catstanbul Conference

Solana-based decentralized exchange (DEX) Jupiter unveiled a series of announcements at its inaugural community conference, Catstanbul, held in Istanbul, Turkey, on January 25-26.

The DEX, founded in October 2021 and now one of the leading protocols on Solana, showcased its strategic direction with acquisitions, tokenomics initiatives, and platform upgrades designed to elevate its ecosystem.

Acquisitions and Expanding Ecosystem

Jupiter's first announcement was its acquisition of a majority stake in Moonshot, a memecoin launchpad that recently gained widespread attention after the $TRUMP meme coin launch, which propelled Moonshot to the top of the US Apple App Store's finance app rankings and secured a $13 billion market cap for $TRUMP within 24 hours.

"The team is amongst the smartest, most driven group of people i have ever met & it has been incredibly fun jamming on the future of memes together," Jupiter founder Meow said on X.

While the financial terms of the deal remain undisclosed, the acquisition cements Jupiter’s role in the growing meme coin market.

In addition to Moonshot, Jupiter also acquired SonarWatch, an on-chain portfolio tracker. As part of the integration, SonarWatch will pivot exclusively to Solana coverage, with the team focusing on a new tracker hosted at portfolio.jup.ag.

The SonarWatch Portfolio API will be deprecated after a six-month transition period beginning January 31, and the SONAR token will be discontinued, with its supply burned. Holders of SONAR will be eligible to claim Jupiter’s native JUP tokens.

Tokenomics Update

Jupiter announced a token buyback program as a part of its broader tokenomics strategy. Under the initiative, 50% of all platform fees will be allocated to buying back JUP tokens, while the remaining 50% will be invested in the continued growth of the Jupiverse ecosystem, co-founder Siong said on X

Additionally, the team burned 3 billion JUP tokens, worth about $3.2 billion, reducing the total supply from 10 billion to 7 billion. These measures aim to drive long-term value for JUP holders and boost the token's market performance.

Platform Redesign and New Features

Jupiter also debuted its platform’s “V2” redesign, with founder Meow emphasizing the protocol’s reinvention. The overhaul introduces several innovative features, including Ultra Mode, which promises lower costs and improved transaction efficiency through real-time slippage estimation and dynamic priority fees. Another key addition, Jupiter Shield, offers enhanced security for user assets.

The DEX further revealed plans to make its manual mode customizable and update the user experience for its spot platform. While the upgrades will initially launch on the web platform, mobile integration is expected to follow.

A highlight of the announcements was Jupnet, a proposed omnichain network aiming to unify the crypto landscape into a single decentralized ledger. Currently in early testnet, Jupnet aspires to enable one account to access all chains, currencies, and commodities—a vision the team refers to as “1A3C.”

The network will feature decentralized validators capable of creating a single source of truth and executing cross-chain transactions. A public beta is expecited in the coming months.

JUP Token Performance

Following the announcements, the JUP token experienced a notable surge in market activity. After dropping to $0.81 following its "Jupuary" airdrop worth $616 million earlier this month, JUP rebounded and peaked at $1.262, representing a more 40% increase, though it has since settled to $0.976 – 7.44% up from the day before. The token remains below its all-time high of $2.043 but has gained over 40% year-to-date.