Analytics platform DefiLlama has presented a ranking of the top 10 cryptocurrency protocols by revenue over the past 30 days. The combined figure for the list's participants in September exceeded $296 million. The leaders by category were trading platforms and infrastructure solutions for token launches, as well as a representative of the prediction market.

For comparison: projects ranked 10th to 20th by revenue earned less than $90 million in September, while those from 20th place onward earned less than $5 million per month each. And starting from around 60th place, projects earned less than $1 million each.

In recent months, many experts have pointed to fundamental changes in the market regarding the growth and development of crypto projects. Many believe that the valuation of a given token will increasingly be determined by the financial results of the projects behind them, much like the stock prices of traditional companies.

Derivatives

Hyperliquid, the largest decentralized exchange (DEX) for perpetual futures (perps), took first place in the revenue rankings. In September, it earned over $55 million. The exchange stands out because 99% of user trading fees are directed toward continuous buybacks of its platform token HYPE.

Token Launch Platforms

The largest category of projects among those in DefiLlama's top list. Slightly behind Hyperliquid in revenue, memecoin launch platform Pump.fun (PUMP) earned about $53 million. Its revenue comes from token creation fees and trading fees.

Another memecoin creation platform, StonkFun (STONK) on the Solana blockchain, earned over $27 million. It is followed by Pons (PONS), which operates on the blockchain network of broker Robinhood, with a September figure exceeding $23 million. Like Pump.fun, their revenue comes from token creation fees and user trading commissions.

Trading Apps

The second-largest category by total revenue after token launch platforms is trading terminals and apps. GMGN earned $40 million through fees. The rapidly growing social trading app Fomo received over $32 million.

Trading terminal Axiom Pro's September revenue was $18 million in fees. Notably, none of these three projects had their own token at the time the ranking was compiled.

DEX and Prediction Market

Decentralized exchanges Uniswap (UNI) and Aerodrome (AERO), as well as prediction market platform Polymarket, each earned about $15 million. All of them generate revenue as fees from user transactions on their platforms.

Uniswap is the world's largest DEX, while Aerodrome is the largest on the Base network. Polymarket is a service for betting on real-world events, operating on the Polygon network.