JustLend DAO’s third buyback burned 271.3m JST worth $21.3m, lifting total destroyed supply to 1.36b JST, or 13.7%, as its revenue-fed deflation plan rolls on.

JustLend DAO has carried out its third major buyback and burn of JST, permanently removing 271,337,579 tokens with an estimated value of $21.3 million from circulation. In an announcement on April 16, the Tron-based lending protocol said the burned tokens were sent to a “black hole” address and funded by its net income for the first quarter of 2026 plus past accumulated profits.

With this latest event, the total number of JST destroyed has climbed to 1,356,228,332, representing 13.70% of the token’s overall supply and extending a rapid deflationary run that began in late 2025. Earlier rounds saw JustLend wipe out roughly 1.08 billion JST across two buybacks worth nearly $40 million, equal to about 10.96% of supply in under three months.

Revenue-funded burns cement JST’s deflation narrative

JustLend reiterated that its buyback program is explicitly tied to protocol profitability, describing the burns as “value empowerment” driven by real cash flow from lending spreads and other revenue sources on Tron. TRONSCAN data previously cited by Phemex and other outlets showed that earlier phases of the program destroyed JST worth roughly $44.8 million, underscoring that the effort is more than a symbolic supply cut.

According to prior disclosures, JustLend’s first burn came in October 2025 amid what CryptoSlate called a “revenue-driven deflation cycle,” at a time when the broader JUST ecosystem reported about $12.2 billion in total value locked, or roughly 46% of Tron’s on-chain TVL. Subsequent January 2026 burns removed another 525 million JST tokens valued at around $21 million, bringing the cumulative tally to just over 1.08 billion before the latest Q1 2026 event.

Market reaction has been mixed. Earlier coverage from NewsDirect and other venues noted that JST’s price hovered around $0.04 with only modest gains after the second burn, even as 11% of supply was retired, suggesting traders had partly priced in the deflation schedule. CoinMarketCap’s Top Stories desk reported a 3.6% JST rally over 33 hours as markets repriced the program that destroyed 11% of supply in 90 days, a burn rate described as outpacing BNB’s deflation.

JustLend says it will keep executing quarterly buybacks and burns and “regularly provide transparent updates to the community” as the program continues. For holders, the question now is whether a total burn already at 13.70% of supply — and rising — can meaningfully shift JST’s long-term valuation, or whether, as earlier price action hinted, fundamentals and Tron DeFi demand will matter more than the sheer number of tokens sent to a black hole.