Key takeaways:
- Crypto revenue is earned from fees paid by users of the token or blockchain. It provides the crypto company with the critical capital needed to innovate and expand.
- Cryptocurrency revenue represents a key metric that provides insight into the health of a cryptocurrency company. If revenue is growing slowly, it can also offer a window into the company's challenges.
- The top three highest-earning crypto projects are Ethereum, Tron, and Maker DAO.
Smart crypto investors ask a simple question: Is This Crypto Company Making Money??
In the words of Jerry Maguire, SHOW ME THE MONEY.
Revenue, fees, market cap, and daily active users (DAU) are some of our most important metrics. to determine the flow of money.
We focus on the top crypto companies that earn the most revenue from this feature.
We have analyzed the projects with the highest profits and explained them in an easy-to-understand table.
Defined income
Because cryptocurrencies are new and evolving, there are several definitions of "income," but we use the standard developed by Token terminal.
In crypto, โrevenueโ reflects a crypto companyโs total fees that go into the protocol. This income is usually earned through transaction fees, such as:
- Network fees: Users pay these transaction fees to prevent miners or validators from approving transactions.
- Commercial rates: Users pay DEX trading fees to trade tokens on platforms like Uniswap.
- Loan fees: Borrowers pay users on decentralized finance (DeFi) lending platforms like Aave and Compound.
- Minting Fees: NFTs use minting fees to create new NFTs.
Some fees are paid to users or network participants, but the crypto company saves some for organizational support, project development or innovation. Those fees saved by the company are defined as "revenue."
The relationship between income and project success
Revenue and fees can indicate the long-term success and sustainability of a crypto project. Higher revenue figures generally indicate substantial demand for a project, demonstrating its real usefulness. Blockchain projects that generate significant revenue are more likely to survive competition in the long term.
Top Blockchains Ranked by Revenue
Ethereum
Source of income: Ethereum revenue is generated through network fees, also called gas fees. These fees come from Layer-2 solutions built on Ethereum. These additional fees can be significant.
In 2021, the Ethereum blockchain adopted the PEI 1559 Please update to change how fees are calculated and processed. The new rate system uses block-based, shipper-specified maximum rates instead of gas price auctions.
Ethereum's daily revenue peaked in March 2024 at over $35 million, driven by a surge in DeFi and NFT activity in the first quarter of the year. The hype over meme coins has also contributed to revenue growth by boosting transaction counts.
The revenue dynamics share a direct relationship with the price and market capitalization of Ethereum.
tron
Source of income: Tron earns revenue by charging fees on TRX transactions, which are then burned to drive token deflation.
Tron is an alternative to Ethereum that focuses more on Asian markets. It was launched in 2017 by Justin Sun, a flamboyant crypto entrepreneur known for paying 4.5 million dollars for a charity dinner with Warren Buffett.
Tron, which uses a more efficient but centralized Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS) consensus algorithm, is currently the 14th largest blockchain network in the world.
With over $9 billion in TVL, Tron is the second largest DeFi player after Ethereum. However, he has an isolated ecosystem and almost $7 billion of TVL comes from his lending protocol. JustLend.
DAO Maker
Source of income: The platform generates income from interest paid by borrowers, liquidated collateral, and fees paid to maintain DAI peg.
Maker is one of TVL's largest DeFi applications, with over $9 billion in cryptocurrency in its smart contracts.
The Ethereum-based protocol acts as a lending platform and monetary system, issuing its dollar-backed stablecoin called DAI.
Maker's daily revenue fluctuates below $1 million, with occasional spikes to over $1 million and even over $10 million. The metric shows a lower correlation with the price of the token. However, these charts clearly show a link between Ethereum and Maker DAO income streams, likely because Maker is built on top of Ethereum. Due diligence for Maker DAO will almost certainly also include ETH research and analysis.
solarium
Source of income: The network employs a fee system where 50% of all fees reach validators and 50% are burned. According to Token Terminal, revenue peaked at over $2.5 million in March.
Since early 2023, Solana has been the fastest growing blockchain network, occasionally surpassing Ethereum on several fronts such as NFT and DAU trading volume. It also has a vibrant DeFi ecosystem, attracting around $5 billion in TVL.
Solana has more users and daily transactions than Ethereum and could generate greater revenue. However, it charges much lower fees than Ethereum, meaning you will have to offset them with transaction volume (i.e. more users transact on Solana more frequently).
avalanche
Source of income: Avalanche is backed by transaction fees paid on AVAX that are burned after the transaction.
Avalanche is a Layer 1 blockchain that focuses on efficiency and interoperability. It shares similarities with Ethereum by leveraging the Solidity programming language to allow developers to create applications compatible with both networks.
Avalanche's top position in terms of revenue is mainly due to an increase in transaction fees at the end of 2023. In December, network fees increased to $53 million. This was more than 25 times higher than the revenue recorded last April. When December is excluded from the schedule, the Avalanche will rank much lower, generating less than $3 million per month in fees.
Rising transaction fees It was carried out by demand for sign-up-based NFTs as part of a social experiment introduced by the Trader Joe app.
The subsequent correction of transaction fees did not affect the price of AVAX.
Investor Conclusion
Evaluating crypto projects across key metrics such as DAU, revenue/fees, and market capitalization provides insight into their long-term health and sustainability.
High-revenue generating projects such as Ethereum and Solana demonstrate strong demand and utility, suggesting long-term resilience and growth potential.
To dive deeper into these metrics, explore our detailed pages at DAU, revenue, daily active developersand Market cover. Understanding these elements is crucial to making informed investment decisions in the speculative cryptocurrency market.
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