Markets
Top crypto companies with the most revenue
Key points:
- Crypto revenue is earned from fees paid by users of the token or blockchain. It provides the crypto company with the critical capital needed to innovate and expand.
- Cryptocurrency revenue is a key metric that provides insight into the health of a cryptocurrency company. If revenue grows slowly, it can also provide a window into business challenges.
- The top three crypto projects with the highest revenues are Ethereum, Tron, and Maker DAO.
Smart cryptocurrency investors ask a simple question: this cryptocurrency company is making money?
In the words of Jerry Maguire, SHOW ME THE MONEY.
Revenue, commissions, market cap and daily active users (DAU) are some of our most important metrics to determine the flow of money.
We are focusing on the top cryptocurrency companies that earn the most revenue in this feature.
We’ve unpacked the highest-earning projects and explained them in an easy-to-understand graph.
Defined revenue
Because cryptocurrencies are new and evolving, there are various definitions of “income,” but we use the standard developed by Token terminal.
In cryptocurrencies, “revenue” reflects a cryptocurrency company’s total fees that go into the protocol. This revenue is usually earned through transaction fees, such as:
- Network fees: Users pay these transaction fees to prevent miners or validators from approving transactions.
- Trading commissions: Users pay DEX trading fees to trade tokens on platforms like Uniswap.
- Loan fees: Borrowers pay users on decentralized finance (DeFi) lending platforms such as Aave and Compound.
- Minting fees: NFTs use minting fees to create new NFTs.
Some fees are paid to users or network participants, but the cryptocurrency company saves some of it for organizational support, project development, or innovation. The fees saved by the company are called “revenue”.
The relationship between revenue and project success
Revenue and fees can indicate the long-term success and sustainability of a crypto project. Higher revenues generally indicate substantial demand for a project, demonstrating its true usefulness. Blockchain projects that generate significant revenue are more likely to survive competition in the long term.
Top blockchains ranked by revenue
Ethereum
Source of revenue: Revenue on Ethereum is generated from network fees, also called gas fees. These fees come from Ethereum-based Layer-2 solutions. These additional costs can be significant.
In 2021, the Ethereum blockchain adopted the EIP 1559 update to change how rates are calculated and processed. The new pricing system uses block-based, shipper-specified maximum fees rather than auctions for gas prices.
Daily revenue on Ethereum peaked in March 2024 at over $35 million, driven by an increase in DeFi and NFT activity in the first quarter of the year. The hype around meme coins has also contributed to revenue growth by spurring transaction counts.
Revenue dynamics share a direct relationship with the price and market capitalization of Ethereum.
Tron
Source of revenue: Tron earns revenue by imposing fees on TRX transactions, which are then burned to cause deflation of the token.
Tron is an alternative to Ethereum that focuses more on Asian markets. It was launched in 2017 by Justin Sun, a quirky cryptocurrency entrepreneur known for payments $4.5 million for a charity dinner with Warren Buffett.
Tron, which uses a more efficient yet centralized Delegation Proof of Stake (DPoS) consensus algorithm, is currently the 14th largest blockchain network in the world.
With over $9 billion in TVL, Tron is the second largest DeFi player after Ethereum. However, it has an isolated ecosystem and nearly $7 billion of the TVL comes from its lending protocol, Just lend.
DAO Creator
Source of revenue: The platform generates revenue from interest paid by borrowers, collateral liquidated, and fees paid to maintain the DAI anchor.
Maker is one of TVL’s largest DeFi apps, with over $9 billion worth of cryptocurrencies in its smart contracts.
The Ethereum-based protocol serves as a lending platform and monetary system, issuing its own USD-backed stablecoin called DAI.
Maker’s daily revenue hovers below $1 million, with occasional spikes to over $1 million and even over $10 million. The metric shows a lower correlation with the token price. However, these charts clearly show a link between Ethereum and Maker DAO revenue streams, most likely because Maker is built on Ethereum. Due diligence for Maker DAO will almost certainly also include ETH research and analysis.
Solana
Source of revenue: The network uses a pricing system where 50% of all fees reach validators and 50% are burned. According to Token Terminal, revenue peaked at over $2.5 million in March.
Since early 2023, Solana has been the fastest-growing blockchain network, occasionally surpassing Ethereum on several fronts, such as NFT trading volume and DAUs. It also has a vibrant DeFi ecosystem, attracting around $5 billion in TVL.
Solana has more active users and daily transactions than Ethereum and could deliver higher revenues. However, it charges much lower fees than Ethereum, which means it will have to compensate for transaction volume (i.e., more users transacting on Solana more frequently).
Avalanche
Source of revenue: Avalanche is supported by transaction fees paid in AVAX which are burned after the transaction.
Avalanche is a Layer-1 blockchain that focuses on efficiency and interoperability. It shares similarities with Ethereum by leveraging the Solidity programming language to allow developers to create apps compatible with both networks.
Avalanche’s top position in terms of revenue is mainly due to the increase in transaction fees at the end of 2023. In December, the network’s fees increased to $53 million. This is more than 25 times higher than the revenue recorded last April. When December is excluded from the time frame, Avalanche will rank much lower, as it generates less than $3 million per month in commissions.
Soaring transaction fees was driven from requesting subscription-based NFTs as part of a social experiment introduced by the Trader Joe’s app.
The subsequent correction of transaction fees did not affect the price of AVAX.
Takeaway for investors
Evaluating crypto projects across key metrics such as DAU, revenue/fees, and market cap provides insight into their long-term health and sustainability.
High-revenue generating projects, such as Ethereum and Solana, demonstrate strong demand and utility, suggesting long-term resilience and growth potential.
To learn more about these parameters, explore our detailed pages on DAU, income, developers active on a daily basisAND market capitalization. Understanding these elements is critical to making informed investment decisions in the speculative cryptocurrency market.
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