DeFi

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Blockchain venture firm 1kx has released its inaugural Onchain Revenue <a style="color: #0000ff;" href="https://1kx.capital/writing/2025-onchain-revenue-report" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Report</a>, revealing that users paid a record $20 billion in on-chain fees in 2025. The analysis, covering over 1,000 protocols, shows decentralized finance (DeFi) leading the surge, with applications driving revenue growth while transaction costs have dropped sharply.
<figure style="width: 100%" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" src="https://t6k.056.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Screenshot_20251031_104136_Chrome.jpg" alt="DeFi Fees Hit $20 Billion." width="1080" height="1313">
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 DeFi Fees Hit $20 Billion. Source: <a href="https://1kx.capital/writing/2025-onchain-revenue-report" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">1kx</a>
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<h3 id="span-style-font-weight-400-defi-dominates-on-chain-revenue-span">DeFi dominates on-chain revenue</h3>
According to the report, fees totaled $9.7 billion in the first half of 2025 alone, marking the second-highest level since H2 2021. Unlike previous periods, when high Proof-of-Work costs inflated fees, today’s revenue comes primarily from applications such as DeFi platforms, decentralized infrastructure projects (DePIN), wallets, and consumer-facing apps. Application usage jumped 126% year-over-year, reflecting growing mainstream adoption of blockchain technology.
Robert Koschig, Head of Economics at 1kx, highlighted that “on-chain fee generation provides a clear, quantifiable metric of a protocol’s real-world utility and economic value,” stressing its importance for investors seeking transparency and measurable adoption trends.
<h3 id="span-style-font-weight-400-efficiency-and-innovation-fuel-growth-span">Efficiency and innovation fuel growth</h3>
The report emphasizes that infrastructure improvements have reduced transaction costs by more than 90% compared to 2021, enabling higher adoption and broader participation. The top 20 protocols accounted for 70% of total revenue, yet the report notes that nimble innovators can quickly disrupt incumbents due to blockchain’s rapid scalability.
High-growth areas identified include tokenization, DePIN, wallets, and consumer applications, while regulatory easing has encouraged institutional participation. Looking ahead, 1kx projects that on-chain fees could grow 60% year-over-year in 2026, exceeding $32 billion, driven largely by applications.
1kx plans to release these reports semi-annually to provide insight into cost efficiency, user engagement, and investor demand, offering a transparent view of on-chain economic activity that is increasingly shaping blockchain valuations.
In parallel, Bybit’s latest DeFi report <a style="color: #0000ff;" href="https://t6k.056.myftpupload.com/2025/07/bybit-defi-report-highlights-rwa-and-dex-growth-amid-market-slowdown/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">highlights</a> that real-world assets (RWA) and decentralized exchanges (DEXs) are now key drivers of DeFi growth, signaling a shift from the speculative boom of 2020 toward institutionally-driven, practical use cases.
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The post <a href="https://defi-planet.com/2025/10/defi-fees-hit-20-billion-in-2025-as-on-chain-applications-drive-explosive-growth/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">DeFi Fees Hit $20 Billion in 2025 as On-chain Applications Drive Explosive Growth</a> appeared first on <a href="https://defi-planet.com" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">DeFi Planet</a>.

DeFi Fees Hit $20 Billion in 2025 as On-chain Applications Drive Explosive Growth

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