Crypto: Web3 Revenue Shifts From Blockchains To Wallets And Defi Apps

A growing amount of the blockchain industry’s fees are captured by DeFi protocols rather than the underlying networks, signaling a potential investor shift to front-end facing applications.

Revenue in the crypto industry is increasingly flowing to user-facing applications rather than the underlying blockchain networks, according to recent data, signaling a potential shift in where investors and developers focus their attention.

Decentralized finance (DeFi) applications now capture five times the fees generated by blockchains, according to data shared by Jamies Coutts, chief crypto analyst at crypto intelligence platform Real Vision.

The trend suggests that more of the industry’s fees will be captured by DeFi applications like wallets, decentralized exchanges (DEXs) and other protocols, while the underlying networks will attract a smaller share of revenue.

“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,” wrote Coutts in a Thursday X post.

The chart shows a significant increase in the fee share captured by DeFi protocols, up from roughly parity in mid 2024.

Related: Short squeeze hits top 500 cryptos as traders unwind bearish bets

Data compiled by DeFiLlama shows that DeFi protocols now dominate the rankings of the highest-earning crypto products. The top 17 fee-generating entities over the past 30 days were applications or protocols rather than base-layer blockchains.

Solana captured over $20.4 million in fees over the past 30 days and was the only blockchain in the top 20. However, this pales in comparison to the $563 million generated by stablecoin issuer Tether, the leading protocol by fees, according to DeFiLlama.

Ethereum was the only other blockchain to make the top 30, with $10.3 million generated in 27th place.

Source: CoinTelegraph