New York, October 29 (Reuters/ PR Newswire ) – The research-driven, fundamental-oriented global investment firm 1kx today released the “1kx Blockchain Revenue Report,” which is the second edition of its annual blockchain revenue analysis. This year’s statistics cover a broader range than last year’s “On-Chain Revenue Report,” which only tracked fees paid by on-chain users. The new report now includes all blockchain revenues, such as off-chain exchange fees, revenues from listed companies, as well as interest from stablecoin reserves, mining and staking rewards, and other incomes.

This report combines on-chain data from over 2,600 protocols, financial reports of more than 100 listed companies, as well as data from other private entities as of the end of the third quarter of 2026. The full report can be found at: https ://1kx. capital / writing / revenue-report-2026.

Report findings

The report shows that blockchain revenue decreased by 28% in 2026, but rebounded again in the third quarter. It is estimated that blockchain revenue for the entire year of 2026 will reach approximately $100 billion, which is a 28% decrease from $140 billion in 2025, in line with the decline in digital asset prices; however, if calculated based on the total market value of digital assets, the revenue remains relatively stable. In the third quarter of 2026, users on the blockchain paid $3.9 billion in fees, and the annual estimate is $14 billion.

Amidst the overall decline, the revenue structure is changing. Revenue from institutions, which includes income from institutions acting as holders (such as ETF, card networks, and on-chain fees), as well as revenue from institutional clients, accounted for 12% of blockchain revenue in the third quarter of 2026, up from 6% in 2021. In US dollars, this portion of revenue doubled over the first half of 2026 to reach $6.1 billion, although it decreased by $700 million year-over-year due to declines in price-sensitive asset management, custody, and staking fees; its proportion increased because total revenue declined even more rapidly. The report breaks down this same total amount in three ways: by revenue attribution (listed companies accounted for 16% in 2026), by driving factors (institutions and broader economic adoption accounted for 33% in the third quarter of 2026, and 30% for the whole year), and by industry (blockchain infrastructure accounted for 21% in the third quarter of 2026).

Revenues from broader economic adoption exceed those from blockchain infrastructure. Revenues derived from broader economic adoption, including tokenized assets, payments, and prediction markets, grew by 58% year-on-year in the first half of 2026, driven mainly by prediction markets and transactions of tokenized real-world assets. For the first time in the third quarter of 2026, these revenues surpassed those from blockchain infrastructure (22% versus 21%). In the third quarter of 2026, revenues related to institutions and the broader economy accounted for 33% of total blockchain revenues.

Listed companies now contribute 16% of blockchain revenue, up from 7% in 2022; the six largest companies together account for about 60% of the blockchain revenue of listed companies. Large banks and traditional financial institutions, whose blockchain revenue was virtually negligible three years ago, are expected to earn a total of $1 billion this year. One way these firms are expanding their revenue is through mergers and acquisitions—there have been quite a few such transactions recently: BVNK (Mastercard), OpenZeppelin (S&P Global), bitbank ( SBI ), Zodia Custody (Standard Chartered Bank).

Dividend-paying tokens outperformed Bitcoin. The 1kx dividend token index, which tracks protocols that distribute value to token holders, had a return of 82% as of September 30, 2026, while Bitcoin fell by 5% during the same period; it is not common for such tokens to outperform Bitcoin in recent years. The index data is hypothetical and based on backtesting. In the third quarter of 2026, a record number of 283 protocols distributed value to their token holders.

Among the various protocols, leaders keep rotating. Based on the on-chain fees up to the third quarter of 2026, 6 of the top 20 protocols are not among the top 20 from last year. Robinhood Chain became the third-largest ecosystem in terms of fees within just one quarter after its launch.

Predicted market fees to grow by 19 times in a year. 1kx estimates that in the third quarter of 2026, market fees will exceed $1.5 billion, up from $86 million in the third quarter of 2025; approximately $55 billion was settled during that quarter, mainly concentrated in Kalshi and Polymarket. Since most of these fees are not yet traceable on the blockchain, this figure is an estimate based on Allium data. Robinhood separately disclosed that its event contract revenue in the third quarter of 2026 was $173 million, more than six times higher than a year earlier. A notable change is that these platforms (as well as other listed companies) are building their own settlement layers and exchanges for these event contracts, such as Robinhood Chain.

Payment card consumption has tripled year-on-year. In the third quarter of 2026, the consumption amount from digital asset payment cards tripled compared to the same period last year, reaching $3.4 billion, with nearly all of it occurring on the Visa network.

As markets move towards 24/7 trading, tokenized stocks have seen a rapid rise in popularity. In the third quarter of 2026, the trading volume of tokenized stocks on Robinhood Chain exceeded $13 billion, with over 70% of that trading occurring during off-hours on U.S. exchanges. Subsequently, NASDAQ will transition to 23-hour trading in December. The trading volume of perpetual contracts on RWA also increased by 122 times year-on-year in the third quarter of 2026.

"The end of the bull market in 2025 also marks the peak of blockchain revenue, but what's more important is what happens after that decline," said Robert Koschig, the head of 1kx Economics. "We see that the market is shifting towards fundamentals, with revenue from institutions and broader economic adoption accounting for about one-third of blockchain revenue in the third quarter. This growth is accompanied by increased activity and adoption of traditional finance across the entire technology stack, from infrastructure to applications."

Tokenized stocks that trade around the clock, prediction markets within brokerage apps, and the volume of transactions on card networks all indicate that traditional finance and digital assets are merging in reality. As investors, data validates our focus: fundamentals. What we look for are areas that traditional structures cannot yet provide for, and where intermediary fees can be reduced. On-chain data allows us to track these changes in real time.

1kx releases a "Blockchain Revenue Report" annually and updates its revenue dashboard monthly: https ://1kx. capital / onchain-revenue-dashboard.

About 1kx

1kx is a globally focused investment firm driven by research and oriented towards fundamental analysis. The company was founded in 2018 by tech entrepreneurs Lasse Clausen and Christopher Heymann and is headquartered in New York. It specializes in investing at critical junctures where blockchain technology intersects with the broader economy. Since its inception, 1kx's "trust cost" thesis has defined its investment approach: focusing on companies and networks that can reduce trust costs and create value that traditional infrastructure cannot achieve. With a hands-on approach and technical rigor, 1kx has completed over 160 investments across three market cycles, often taking the lead in early rounds of financing before these concepts are validated by the market. The firm's global base of institutional investors includes sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, endowment funds, fund of funds, corporations, and family offices. To learn more about 1kx's research and investment philosophy, visit 1kx.capital and follow @1kxnetwork on X.

About methodology

The report covers the financial statements of 2,621 protocols and 104 listed companies as of the third quarter of 2026. Protocol data is sourced from Allium, DeFiLlama, Dune, and TokenTerminal, and is supplemented by on-chain and off-chain cost estimates as well as third-party reports; protocol valuations are derived from CoinGecko. Revenue is categorized into six industries (blockchain infrastructure, middleware, DePIN, DeFi/finance, wallets, and consumer), and is mapped into four categories based on source: institutional adoption, broader economic adoption, blockchain applications, and blockchain infrastructure. The complete methodology, including adjustments for duplicate calculations, can be found in the report appendix.

Disclosure

The content of this publication is for general informational purposes only and should not be regarded as or relied upon as investment, financial, legal, regulatory, tax, accounting, or similar advice. It does not constitute an offer to sell or an invitation to purchase any securities. 1kx may hold positions in certain items or assets discussed in this publication. Full disclosure: https ://1kx. capital / important-disclosures

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