Revenue within the cryptocurrency industry is increasingly diverging from underlying blockchains and concentrating towards user-facing applications, according to recent data. This significant shift highlights where the primary creation of value is currently occurring within the crypto space.
Jamie Coutts, chief crypto analyst at Real Vision, has presented data indicating that decentralized finance (DeFi) applications are now generating five times more fees than blockchain networks. These applications encompass a wide range of user-interactive protocols, including digital wallets, decentralized exchanges (DEXs), and various other platforms that users engage with directly. While both blockchains and DeFi applications earned comparable amounts in fees around mid-2024, DeFi protocols have since established a clear and dominant lead.
This evolving trend suggests that platforms positioned closest to the end-user are successfully capturing a greater share of value compared to the foundational networks upon which they are built. Although blockchains continue to provide essential security and infrastructure, their portion of the total fees generated is diminishing relative to the applications operating on top of them.
Coutts posits that blockchain networks will inherently benefit from strong network effects. However, he argues that a greater proportion of value creation should naturally migrate to the front end of the ecosystem. Wallets, DeFi applications, and other protocols are the primary conduits for user activity, transaction processing, and liquidity management, positioning them as the principal engines for fee generation.
DeFi Applications Lead Crypto Fee Generation
Data compiled by DeFiLlama substantiates this perspective. Over the preceding 30-day period, the top 17 entities generating the most fees in the crypto market were exclusively applications or protocols, with no base-layer blockchains appearing in this elite group. The stablecoin issuer Tether led the rankings, generating approximately $563 million in fees, a figure substantially higher than any blockchain.
Among the blockchains, Solana demonstrated the strongest performance, earning an estimated $20.4 million in fees during the same timeframe. It was the sole blockchain to secure a position within the top 20 fee-generating entities. Ethereum was the only other blockchain to appear within the top 30, generating $10.3 million and ranking 27th.
According to Nansen, Solana has emerged as the most actively used blockchain, boasting over 68 million active addresses in the past 30 days, marking a 14% increase. Ethereum ranked sixth in terms of active addresses, with 13 million, yet it exhibited a remarkable growth rate of 53%.