 |
| By Marija Matic |
You’ve likely heard them before. Especially if you have spent any time around traditional finance circles.
Off-hand remarks like "crypto is just speculation."
Or “web3 is just fake internet money based on nothing.”
People who say this want you to believe that crypto doesn’t create real value. And while I can’t explain why that is, I can confirm with confidence that they are wrong.
Because data itself tells a completely different story.
It reveals that crypto projects aren't just creating theoretical value … they're generating millions in daily revenue.
For example …
Stablecoins: The Quiet Money-Printing Machines
While everyone's eyes are glued to traditional finance, stablecoin issuers have been quietly building financial empires.
Tether, the company behind the USDT stablecoin, is raking in a staggering $18 million every single day.
Let that sink in.
Circle follows in second place, with its USDC stablecoin generating roughly $6 million daily.
The kicker? These revenues flow straight to the issuing companies. Stablecoin issuers generate their massive profits primarily by filling the reserves backing these tokens in interest-bearing instruments, like Treasury bills.
With billions in assets under management, even conservative yields can translate into enormous revenue streams. But, since USDT and USDC tokens don't pay yield to holders themselves, the issuers capture all this value.
dApps: Fueling Blockchains’ Revenue Renaissance
Blockchains themselves generate significant revenue. Tron (TRX, “C+”), Solana (SOL, “B”), Ethereum (ETH, “B”), Binance Smart Chain and Bitcoin (BTC, “A-”) all earn over $300,000 daily in chain fees.
But while that’s impressive, the real money lies in the applications built on top of them.
Just look at one of the most popular networks for dApps: Solana.
Remember when this Layer-1 was dismissed as just another "Ethereum killer?” We know now that’s far from the truth. Solana isn’t just another contender — its DeFi protocols are absolutely crushing it in the fee-generation department!
According to DefiLlama data, apps on Ethereum — the original smart-contract blockchain — collectively earn $1.1 million in fees daily.
But Solana's applications are generating a massive $4.3 million. That’s nearly four times as much!
This dominance isn't accidental. It’s the result of Solana's combination of ultra-low transaction costs and user-friendly interfaces, which has created the perfect environment for revenue-generating projects.
When comparing these revenue-generating machines, two metrics matter:
- Fee generation: That is, the total money users pay for services.
- Protocol revenue: What actually goes to the project's treasury or token holders.
You can find both for most DeFi projects on DeFiLlama.
Projects have wildly different approaches to fee distribution.
Some share fees between liquidity providers and treasury — arguably the most sustainable model. Others take extreme positions, either directing everything to liquidity providers or keeping everything for the treasury.
These economic models can dramatically impact long-term viability of the project, as they have to walk the fine line between interests of the different stakeholders in the ecosystem.
If you plan to invest in a dApp’s native token or want to utilize that platform for yourself, you’ll want to make sure you know their business model, how they distribute fees, in addition to its fee generation and revenue.
8 DeFi Revenue Champions
These dApps don’t just promise future utility. They deliver real revenue each day:
1. Jupiter (JUP, Not Yet Rated) - Solana's Trading Juggernaut
- Daily fees: $2.64 million (yes, million!)
- Protocol revenue: $672,000 daily
- Annualized fees: Nearly $1 billion, based on the last 30 days
- What makes it special: Comprehensive trading across spot and perpetual markets with dollar-cost averaging in one slick interface
- How it makes money: Takes a cut of trading fees while sharing the majority with liquidity providers.
2. Pump (PUMP, Not Yet Rated) - The Memecoin Factory
- Daily fees: $2.24 million
- Protocol revenue: $1.57 million daily
- What makes it special: Created the one-click launchpad that fueled Solana's memecoin explosion.
- How it makes money: Keeps a larger percentage of fees than most DEXes, making it extraordinarily profitable
3. Uniswap (UNI, “C”) - The Multi-Chain Pioneer
- Daily fees: $1.82 million across 34 blockchains
- What makes it special: The OG DEX that proved decentralized trading could work.
- How it makes money: Liquidity Providers earn all protocol fees from trading activity. Additionally, Uniswap Labs (the company) implements a 0.25% fee on select token pairs through their interface, which generates approximately $100,000 daily to fund ongoing development and operations.
- The plot thickens: Ongoing discussions about expanding this revenue model could turn UNI into a cash flow token.
4. Jito (JTO, Not Yet Rated) - The Solana Staking Superstar
- Daily fees: $1.82 million
- Protocol revenue: $72,000 daily
- What makes it special: Transformed Solana staking with the JitoSOL liquid staking token.
- How it makes money: Skims a percentage from staking rewards, providing steady, predictable revenue.
5. Hyperliquid (HYPE, “D+”) - The Perpetual Powerhouse
- Daily fees: $1.55 million
- Protocol revenue: $1.55 million daily
- What makes it special: Built its own blockchain specifically for perpetual futures trading. Also, part of the revenue is automatically used to buy back HYPE tokens which supports their value. Hyperliquid also shares trading PnL with liquidity providers through the HLP pool.
- How it makes money: Runs its own chain to give an optimized performance and better economics.
- Fun fact: Despite currently lower total fees than some competitors, it's often the highest revenue earner among decentralized projects. And it has more potential as it plans to integrate the most profitable businesses in crypto: exchange (spot + derivatives) and earning on all transactions through its own blockchain.
6. Meteora (MET)* - Solana's Yield Machine
- Daily fees: $1.45 million
- What makes it special: Known for occasional volatile volume spikes that can hit $50 million in fees earned on good days.
- How it makes money: Combines exchange fees with yield optimization services
*Token coming soon (not yet issued)
7. PancakeSwap (CAKE, Not Yet Rated) - BSC's Flagship DEX
- Daily fees: $1.39 million
- Protocol revenue: $254,000 daily
- What makes it special: Established the playbook for high-volume, low-fee DEXes.
- How it makes money: Balances fee distribution between liquidity providers and treasury.
8. Lido (LDO, Not Yet Rated) - The Multi-Chain Staking Giant
- Daily fees: $1.29 million
- Protocol revenue: $128,000 daily
- What makes it special: Pioneered liquid staking across multiple chains, not just Ethereum.
- How it makes money: Takes a cut of the staking rewards across its supported networks.
Wallets: The Overlooked Revenue Monsters
Now, forget fancy complex DeFi protocols for a minute. Because plain old crypto wallets are printing serious cash.
Phantom wallet, for example, is crushing its competition, generating approximately $500,000 daily.
For perspective, MetaMask, despite its massive user base, “only” manages $80,000 daily.
Diverse Business Models, Real Revenue
What does all this data tell us?
That crypto has evolved far beyond the "buy and hope it goes up" mentality. The ecosystem now features diverse, sustainable business models, including:
- Blockchains: Generate base-layer fees from transactions while securing the entire ecosystem.
- Stablecoins: Generate revenue through reserve management and the float on billions in assets.
- Decentralized Exchanges: Capture trading fees in a market that never sleeps.
- Liquid Staking: Makes staked assets productive while helping secure networks.
- Wallets: Monetize the gateway to the ecosystem through swaps and other services.
Far from being purely speculative, these projects are building critical financial infrastructure with clear value propositions and impressive revenue streams.
The next time someone claims crypto doesn't create value, show them these numbers.
Because the money doesn't lie.
That doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed to find profits in these projects. But it does mean that with some due diligence on your end, you can move forward in your crypto journey with confidence.
Best,
Marija Matić
