Michigan Candidate El-Sayed Says Stock Buybacks Should Be Illegal

Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed said stock buybacks should be illegal in a post Wednesday, Oct. 21, a day after the General Motors (GM) board approved a $20 billion repurchase authorization.

The multiyear authorization has no fixed end date, and GM may pause or discontinue it. It permits future purchases; it does not mean the company has already spent $20 billion. GM also completed a separate repurchase program worth $6 billion. GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra described the new authorization as evidence of the board's commitment to shareholder value. United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain called buybacks “a form of legalized mass looting.”

El-Sayed's post stated his position but included no draft legislation. It also made no mention of crypto token purchases or preferred stock.

That policy post is separate from crypto's own buyback activity. Protocols use revenue or treasury funds to acquire their tokens; those tokens can later be destroyed, kept or distributed. Tracked crypto token purchases totaled about $640 million through Aug. 25, 2026, compared with $545 million over the same period in 2025 and $366,000 across all of 2024. Hyperliquid (HYPE) accounted for around $370 million, while Pump.fun (PUMP) was close to $200 million. Together, the two represented nearly 90% of the 2026 tally.

Crypto companies also repurchase shares, a distinct transaction from protocols acquiring tokens. Between Oct. 12-18, Strategy paid $193.1 million to acquire 1,938,780 shares of its Series A Perpetual Stretch Preferred Stock, which trades as STRC. The authorization for its digital-credit securities program rose from $2 billion to $3 billion, with $1.16 billion remaining as of Oct. 18. A separate program had $1 billion available for MSTR common stock.

SEC Division of Corporation Finance staff guidance addresses a narrow case involving a functional crypto system with no central party and a token that is not a security. In that situation, staff says an issuer's announcement of token purchases would not be a promise of essential managerial efforts. The document presents staff's view, has not been approved by the Commission as a rule or statement and carries no legal force. It does not amount to blanket permission for every token buyback. For nonfunctional systems, the FAQ says that presenting a buyback as a source of yield or returns could affect investment-contract analysis.