The Truth About the Crypto Money Printer: Want to Make Money in 2026? Keep an Eye on These Three Directions
The article "Crypto’s Revenue Recipe" analyzes the revenue generation landscape in the crypto industry, highlighting key trends and drivers based on data from 2025. Total crypto protocol revenue doubled to over $16 billion in 2025, with stablecoin issuers like Tether and Circle dominating, accounting for 60% of total revenue. However, perpetual DEXs (e.g., Hyperliquid, EdgeX) emerged significantly, contributing 7-8% of industry revenue.
Three core drivers are identified for 2026:
1. **Carry**: Revenue from holding and transferring assets (e.g., stablecoin interest earnings), though vulnerable to Fed rate cuts.
2. **Execution**: Perpetual DEXs gain traction by enabling low-friction, high-frequency trading and liquidity provision, challenging stablecoin dominance.
3. **Distribution**: Token launch platforms (e.g., pump.fun) leverage frictionless asset creation and distribution to capture incremental revenue.
The article emphasizes the shift towards value transfer to token holders, with 19% of protocol revenue distributed via staking, dividends, buybacks, or burns in 2025—a sign of growing "economic ownership" rather than mere governance. Projects like Hyperliquid and pump.fun are cited for prioritizing holder rewards. In 2026, value distribution is expected to become standard for protocols aiming for fundamental-based token valuation.
比推01/13 18:54