The crypto industry is doing moderately well in 2024, helped by the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in January. There is speculation that the SEC will also approve spot Ether ETFs, which could open doors for other tokens like Solana and Avalanche.
Most publicly traded crypto companies reported strong revenue growth in the recent earnings season. Coinbase benefited from increased trading volume and its role in the ETF industry where it acts as a custodian of most funds.
Ethereum revenue in 2024
Blockchains are also doing well in terms of their fees or revenues. Data by TokenTerminal shows that Ethereum has led the industry in fees this year. It has made over $1.46 billion, slightly lower than Coinbase’s $1.58 billion.
Ethereum always leads in terms of volume because it is the biggest blockchain network in the world. It powers most networks and stablecoins. Data shows that its total DeFi assets have jumped to over $100 billion, helped by staking networks.
Bitcoin has generated $617 million in fees this year because of the rising ETF demand, which has been offset by a plunge in Ordinals ETFs. Data by CryptoSlam shows that Bitcoin NFT sales volume has plunged by 67% in the past 30 days to $218 million.
Tron, the network launched by Justin Sun, has generated $604 million this year. Tron makes money by charging transaction fees in all its transactions. Its DeFi ecosystem has over $8.78 billion in assets while its network powers stablecoins worth over $56 billion,
Tron’s ecosystem is made up of networks like JustLend, JustStables, SUN, and JustMoney. A closer look shows that the ecosystem growth has stalled though, with the number of new project launches fading.
Solana’s fees are soaring
Solana’s network has made $179 million in fees as it became the closest competitor to Ethereum. It has become the second-biggest chain in the DeFi industry, with its exchanges like Raydium, Orca, and Jupiter being in the top ten in terms of volume.
Solana has also become the favourite network for meme coin launches. Some of its most popular meme tokens are Bonk, dogwifhat, and Book of Meme. Therefore, Solana’s fees are much lower than Tron and Ethereum because its transaction costs are usually much lower.
Another notable top performer is Jito, which has collected over $104 million in fees. Jito is a network that lets users liquid stake their Solana tokens. It has over $1.8 billion in assets and the uptrend is continuing. Lido Finance, its Ethereum competitor, has made over $421 million in fees this year.
The other most profitable networks in the blockchain industry are Uniswap, Aave, MakerDAO, and BNB Chain.
