The 10 highest-grossing crypto protocols generated $1.2 billion in revenue during the 30 days ending Aug. 28, representing a 9.3% increase from the previous month’s total of $1.1 billion per DefiLlama data.
Ethena led the percentage gains with a 243% revenue surge, jumping from $9.46 million to $32.48 million, as its synthetic dollar USDe captured market share from traditional stablecoins.
The protocol’s revenue expansion of $23 million represented the second-largest absolute increase among tracked applications.
Pump.fun posted the second-highest percentage growth at 79%, with revenue climbing from $22.55 million to $40.39 million.
The Solana-based memecoin launchpad benefited from continued speculation in newly created tokens, generating an additional $17.84 million in monthly fees.
Stablecoin dominance continues
Tether maintained market leadership despite modest 2.9% growth, with revenue rising from $614.79 million to $632.91 million.
The stablecoin issuer’s $18.12 million increase represented the largest absolute gain among protocols, reinforcing its position as the sector’s primary revenue generator.
Circle ranked second with revenue growing 4.5% from $197.59 million to $206.4 million, adding $8.81 million in monthly fees. Combined, the two stablecoin issuers accounted for 70% of total crypto protocol revenue during the tracking period.
Hyperliquid recorded substantial growth with revenue expanding 25.9% from $82.86 million to $104.3 million. The decentralized perpetual exchange captured an additional $21.43 million as trading volumes increased across its platform.
Mixed performance across sectors
Sky Protocol achieved 77.5% revenue growth, rising from $10.1 million to $17.93 million. Jupiter reported 23.5% growth, with revenue increasing from $21.95 million to $27.1 million, driven by activity in the Solana ecosystem.
Tron recorded moderate gains of 11.6%, with revenue climbing from $56.21 million to $62.73 million. Phantom wallet generated $22.82 million, up 9.5% from $20.84 million in the previous period.
Axiom provided the sole negative performance among top protocols, with revenue declining 13.9% from $62.11 million to $53.46 million. The cross-chain infrastructure provider lost $8.65 million in monthly fees, the only one in the group with a negative result.
Revenue growth occurs alongside the broader crypto market recovery, with protocols benefiting from increased user activity and higher fee generation across decentralized finance applications and trading platforms.