Revenue within the cryptocurrency industry is increasingly being directed towards user-facing applications rather than the underlying blockchain networks. This trend, supported by recent data, signals a potential shift in the focus of investors and developers.
Decentralized finance (DeFi) applications are now capturing five times the fees generated by blockchains. This observation comes from data shared by Jamie Coutts, chief crypto analyst at the crypto intelligence platform Real Vision.
The trend suggests that a greater portion of the industry's fees will be captured by DeFi applications, including wallets, decentralized exchanges (DEXs), and other protocols. Concurrently, the underlying networks are expected to attract a smaller share of this revenue.
Coutts articulated this perspective in a recent X post, stating, "While I am a believer that blockchain’s network effects will always command a premium, it makes sense that more value than what is currently ascribed should drift to the front end — wallets, DeFi apps, and protocols closest to users."
The provided chart illustrates a significant increase in the fee share captured by DeFi protocols, which has risen from approximately parity in mid-2024.
DeFi Apps and Protocols Emerge as Top Earners in Blockchain Industry
Data compiled by DeFiLlama indicates that DeFi protocols now dominate the rankings of the highest-earning crypto products. Over the past 30 days, the top 17 fee-generating entities were applications or protocols, rather than base-layer blockchains.
Solana generated over $20.4 million in fees during the past 30 days, making it the only blockchain among the top 20. However, this figure is considerably less than the $563 million generated by stablecoin issuer Tether, which stands as the leading protocol by fees, according to DeFiLlama.
Ethereum was the only other blockchain to appear in the top 30, generating $10.3 million and ranking 27th.
This dynamic suggests that developers and institutional investors may be directing increasing attention towards DeFi applications instead of the underlying blockchain layer, as these applications capture a growing share of total revenue.
Network Activity and User Engagement
Solana's leading position among the blockchains can be attributed to its high activity. Over the past 30 days, Solana was the most-used network, with over 68 million active addresses. This represents a 14% increase, according to crypto intelligence platform Nansen.
Ethereum ranked sixth, with 13 million active monthly addresses, showing a 53% increase over the past 30 days.
This shift in revenue concentration, coupled with strong user engagement on certain networks, indicates a maturing crypto ecosystem where application-layer innovation is driving significant value.