Onchain Revenue Projected to Reach $20 Billion by 2025: A Sign of Crypto Maturity

Onchain revenue nears $20B in 2025, marking a maturity test for crypto: Research

The cryptocurrency industry is demonstrating signs of growth and maturity, particularly through one important metric: onchain revenue. This increase points towards wider acceptance of blockchain technology across decentralized finance, consumer applications, and new sectors.

According to the latest Onchain Revenue Report from venture capital firm 1kx, onchain revenue is expected to reach approximately $19.8 billion by 2025. This growth comes after a record-setting $9.7 billion was achieved in just the first half of 2025.

These onchain fees represent the total amount spent by users to transact directly on blockchain platforms and related infrastructures. This includes costs associated with trades, swaps, registrations, gaming revenues, subscriptions, and more.

While it's unlikely that 2025 will exceed the peak of $24.1 billion set in 2021, it's noteworthy that total onchain fees have increased more than tenfold since 2020, indicating a compound annual growth rate of around 60%.

The value of onchain fees reached a record high in the first quarter of 2025, but full-year estimates suggest it will still fall short of the 2021 peak. Source: 1kx

The report's authors, Lasse Clausen, Christopher Heymann, Robert Koschig, Clare He, and Johannes Säuberlich, noted, “We regard fees paid as the most accurate indicator, reflecting the practical utility that both users and companies are willing to invest in. As protocols mature and regulations improve, the capability to generate and share consistent fee revenue will distinguish resilient networks from early-stage experiments.”

Rising onchain fees not only signal financial health but also indicate wider adoption of blockchain technology, especially in emerging areas such as real-world asset tokenization, decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePINs), and consumer apps that utilize wallets.

The 1kx report emphasizes that this expansion illustrates a structural change: cryptocurrencies are transitioning from being mere speculative items into a legitimate, revenue-generating asset class with real network effects.

Growth of Tokenized Assets

The report also emphasized the significant rise of tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), noting that their onchain value, excluding stablecoins, soared to over $28 billion by the third quarter of 2025. This figure has since exceeded $35 billion, according to data provided by RWA.xyz.

1kx stated that the total value of tokenized assets onchain has more than doubled within the past year, with the fees generated from these assets increasing even more rapidly. This highlights a rise in user engagement and market acceptance.

The market for tokenized RWAs continues to surge. Source: 1kx

Prominent Wall Street firms like JPMorgan, BlackRock, and BNY Mellon are making substantial investments in asset tokenization. As Cointelegraph previously reported, JPMorgan has already tokenized one of its private equity funds using its Kinexys private blockchain, while BNY Mellon has joined forces with the RWA platform Securitize to facilitate the onchain transition of collateralized loan obligations.

Key Takeaways

Onchain revenue is set to reach about $19.8 billion by 2025, reflecting broader adoption.
Revenue from onchain activities has increased over tenfold since 2020.
Tokenized RWAs are experiencing significant growth, with their value surpassing $35 billion.
Major financial institutions are investing heavily in asset tokenization, aligning with the trend toward blockchain adoption.