DeFi Consolidation Accelerates as Top Apps Capture 80% of Revenue

The on-chain revenue pie is becoming increasingly concentrated, with a handful of applications dominating fee generation across Ethereum and its layer-2 ecosystems.

According to ARK Invest researcher Lorenzo Valente, Hyperliquid and PumpFun alone account for 67% of total application revenue, and adding Ethena pushes the top three projects to nearly 80%.

This level of dominance leaves little room for smaller teams, and the revenue squeeze is now visible in hiring, chain selection, and product strategy.

PumpFun has become one of the highest-earning applications in crypto, yet it is trimming headcount aggressively. The company laid off staff in early April, roughly two months before the first PUMP token unlock, and cut more than 40 people in mid-July.

Aave is taking a different path but with the same theme: focus relentlessly on what works and shed the rest. Founder Stani Kulechov confirmed that the protocol will phase out 50 low-utilization asset reserves and gradually close deployments on certain chains.