Cryptocurrency protocols generated hundreds of millions in weekly revenue during early 2025. Tether led the charts at $87.2 million in 7-day fees.
Token Terminal’s latest data reveals how different sectors of the crypto economy generate sustainable income. Stablecoin issuers, Layer-1 blockchains, and DeFi services emerge as the top revenue producers.
This fee data provides insight into which protocols users actively pay to use, rather than relying on token price speculation.
The revenue rankings show a shift in crypto’s business model. While early blockchain projects focused mainly on price appreciation, today’s leading protocols earn substantial fees from actual services – payment processing, trading, lending, and blockchain usage fees.
Tether’s dominance in fee generation, followed by networks like Tron ($66.8 million) and Ethereum ($39.3 million), demonstrates how essential financial infrastructure commands the highest user payments.
Stablecoins and Layer-1s Dominate Fee Generation
Tether’s weekly revenue of $87.2 million shows how central stablecoins have become to crypto’s financial system.
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These fees come from transaction costs as users move USDT across different blockchains, with Tether supporting 11 networks including Ethereum, Tron, and Solana.
Circle follows as the second-largest stablecoin issuer, generating $31 million in weekly fees, highlighting the growing demand for digital dollars in crypto trading and payments.
Layer-1 blockchains capture the next tier of fee generation. Tron leads this category with $66.8 million in weekly revenue, outpacing Ethereum’s $39.3 million and Solana’s $35.1 million.
These fees come from users paying to process transactions on each network. Tron’s higher fees suggest more active usage for transfers and DeFi activities, while Ethereum’s lower fees reflect recent scaling improvements and Layer-2 adoption reducing costs.
The success of liquid staking also appears in the revenue data. Jito, a Solana staking protocol, earned $41.9 million in weekly fees, while Lido Finance generated $20.7 million across multiple chains.
This indicates growing demand for staking services that allow users to earn yield while maintaining liquidity.
DeFi Protocols Show Strong Revenue Growth
Decentralized exchanges lead DeFi’s revenue generation, with Uniswap earning $29 million in weekly fees from trading activity.
This places it ahead of lending platforms like Aave ($18.4 million) and Morpho ($4.9 million), showing how trading remains more profitable than lending in the current market.
Uniswap’s fees flow directly from traders paying to swap tokens, creating a straightforward revenue model.
The lending sector’s revenue tells an interesting story about market conditions. Aave’s $18.4 million weekly revenue comes from interest rate spreads between borrowers and lenders, while newer protocols like Morpho generate lower fees but show steady growth.
These numbers suggest healthy borrowing demand across DeFi, even as interest rates remain high in traditional finance.
Infrastructure protocols round out the top earners, with Ethereum Name Service collecting $10.2 million and Flashbots earning $9.2 million weekly.
These services provide essential tools for blockchain users – domain names and transaction ordering – showing how utility drives sustainable revenue in crypto markets.
Long-Term Revenue Trends
Looking at 180-day fee totals reveals deeper patterns in crypto’s revenue landscape. Tether maintains clear leadership with $2.5 billion in fees over this period, followed by Tron at $1.3 billion and Circle at $749 million.
These numbers show how stablecoin usage has become fundamental to crypto markets, processing billions in transactions across multiple chains.
The data points to an evolving market structure where essential financial services generate the most reliable income.
While speculative activities often drive short-term price moves, fee generation shows which protocols users actually need and use regularly.
Layer-1 networks like Ethereum ($826 million) and Solana ($522 million) in 180-day fees prove blockchain infrastructure remains a core revenue source.
DeFi’s fee generation becomes more impressive over longer timeframes. Uniswap’s $484 million and Lido’s $472 million in 180-day fees suggest these protocols have found sustainable business models.
The steady growth in fees, even through market cycles, indicates crypto has moved beyond pure speculation to create real utility that users willingly pay for.
This trend toward fee-based revenue rather than token appreciation marks an important step in the industry’s maturation.
