Crypto Market Shift: Fundamentals Take Center Stage?
The crypto market is known for its wild swings, often driven by narratives and hype. However, recent trends suggest a potential shift towards fundamentals. This shift is being fueled by investor disillusionment with projects launching at exorbitant fully diluted valuations (FDVs) and the growing influence of institutional investors.
From Hype to Fundamentals
This cycle has seen a surge in memecoins, which capitalize on hype and short-term attention. While they offer an alternative to projects with large token reserves, they lack the long-term value of projects with solid fundamentals.
As the market matures, protocols with proven revenue generation and a majority of their tokens already in circulation are gaining traction. This indicates that investors are prioritizing projects with real-world utility and transparency.
Spotlight on Revenue-Generating and Unlocked Protocols
This article explores a selection of projects that stand out for their revenue generation and unlocked token supply:
Revenue-Generating & Mostly Unlocked
- **Lido Finance (LDO)**: The largest liquid staking provider, Lido has generated $91M in revenue over the past year. With 100% of its tokens unlocked and 89% in circulation, it offers transparency and long-term value.
- **MakerDAO (MKR)**: MakerDAO, the lending protocol behind the stablecoin DAI, has earned $271M in revenue over the past year. It is a pioneer in integrating Real World Assets (RWAs) and boasts a substantial RWA portfolio. Maker has 92.5% of its supply unlocked and in circulation. [https://makerdao.com/](https://makerdao.com/)
- **Aave (AAVE)**: The largest decentralized lending market in crypto, Aave has generated $55M in revenue over the past year. With 91% of its tokens unlocked and 93% in circulation, Aave offers a robust platform with a focus on cross-chain interoperability. [https://aave.com/](https://aave.com/)
Just Revenue-Generating
- **Jito (JTO)**: This liquid staking protocol with MEV-boosted rewards has produced $176M in revenue over the past year.
- **Ethena (ENA)**: Despite its recent launch, Ethena, the Ethereum-based protocol behind the delta-hedged stablecoin USDe, has already generated $92.7M.
- **Aerodrome (AERO)**: This DEX on Base has earned $90.7M in revenue over the past year, capitalizing on the L2’s success.
- **dYdX (DYDX)**: Operating on its own chain, dYdX, a non-custodial trading and derivatives protocol, generated $55M in revenue over the past year.
- **Pancake Swap (CAKE)**: This popular DEX on Binance Smart Chain has yielded $50.7M in revenue over the past year.
- **Uniswap (UNI)**: The largest and most popular DEX across multiple chains, Uniswap has generated ~$42M in the past year.
- **Banana Gun (BANANA)**: This popular Telegram trading bot has made $34.7M in revenue over the past year.
- **Curve Finance (CURVE)**: Despite recent challenges, Curve Finance has brought in $29M in revenue within the past year.
- **Velodrome (VELO)**: This DEX operating primarily on Optimism has raked in $29.8M in revenue over the past year.
- **GMX (GMX)**: The most popular perps DEX on Arbitrum and Avalanche, GMX netted $32M in revenue over the past year.
Mostly Unlocked Supply
- **Injective (INJ)**: This Cosmos-based L1 for DeFi has 100% of its supply unlocked and 97% in circulation.
- **LooksRare (LOOKS)**: This NFT marketplace is 100% unlocked with 99.5% in circulation.
- **Synthetix (SNX)**: This decentralized derivatives exchange protocol on Ethereum has 100% unlocked with 99.8% in circulation.
- **Mask Network (MASK)**: This browser extension focused on bridging Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 has 100% unlocked with 100% in circulation.
- **Kujira (KUJI)**: This Cosmos-based L1 has 100% of its supply unlocked with 99% in circulation.
- **Polygon (MATIC)**: One of the first ETH L2s, Polygon has 100% unlocked with 92.8% of its token circulating.
- **Yearn (YFI)**: This decentralized suite of yield products has 99.9% of its token unlocked with 91% in circulation.
- **Cartesi (CTSI)**: This app-specific rollup protocol has 93% unlocked with 82% in circulation.
- **1inch (1INCH)**: This leading EVM DEX aggregator has 86% unlocked with 82.6% in circulation.
- **Liquity (LQTY)**: This decentralized borrowing protocol has 97% of its supply unlocked with 96.3% in circulation.
The shift towards fundamentals may not be a complete paradigm shift, but it highlights the importance of evaluating projects beyond hype. Projects with strong fundamentals, coupled with a transparent token distribution model, are likely to be better positioned for long-term success in the evolving crypto landscape.
