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Revenue in the crypto industry is increasingly moving away from blockchains and toward user-facing applications, according to recent data.
This shift shows where real value is now being created in the crypto space. According to Jamie Coutts, chief crypto analyst at Real Vision, data shows that decentralized finance (DeFi) applications now earn five times more fees than blockchain networks.
These applications include wallets, decentralized exchanges (DEXs), and other protocols that users interact with directly. In mid-2024, blockchains and DeFi apps earned similar fees, but DeFi protocols have since taken a clear lead.
This trend suggests that platforms closest to users are capturing more value than the underlying networks. While blockchains still provide security and infrastructure, they are earning a smaller share of total fees compared to applications built on top of them.
Coutts believes blockchain networks will always benefit from strong network effects. However, he argues that more value should move to the front end of the ecosystem. Wallets, DeFi apps, and protocols handle user activity, transactions, and liquidity, making them natural fee generators.
DeFi Apps Dominate Crypto Fees
Data from DeFiLlama supports this view. Over the past 30 days, the top 17 fee-generating crypto entities were all applications or protocols, not base-layer blockchains. Stablecoin issuer Tether ranked first, generating around $563 million in fees, far ahead of any blockchain.
Among blockchains, Solana performed the best, earning about $20.4 million in fees over the same period. It was the only blockchain to rank in the top 20. Ethereum was the only other blockchain in the top 30, earning $10.3 million and ranking 27th.
According to Nansen, Solana was the most-used blockchain, with over 68 million active addresses in the past 30 days, up 14%. Ethereum ranked sixth, with 13 million active addresses, but showed strong growth of 53%.
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