In-depth Analysis of the Revenue Sustainability of Ethereum, Solana, and Tron

Introduction

In today's rapidly developing blockchain technology, the revenue sustainability of public chains has become a key indicator for assessing their long-term development potential. This article will focus on the three major mainstream public chains currently on the market—Ethereum, Solana, and Tron—by analyzing their Gas fee revenue composition, on-chain economic activities, and user income and expenditure situations, to deeply explore the revenue models and sustainability of these public chains.

According to the latest data, in the past 30 days, Ethereum has led with a total of $99.89 million in gas fees, followed closely by Solana and Tron with $46.21 million and $38.97 million, respectively. However, this revenue advantage is not fully reflected in market popularity and user activity. It is worth noting that discussions around Solana have exceeded those of Ethereum in the past six months, while Tron has gained widespread recognition in the payment sector due to its low transaction fees.

More notably, the daily active address data presents a starkly different pattern compared to Gas fee revenue: Tron tops the list with 2.1 million daily active addresses, followed by Solana with 1.1 million, while Ethereum only has 316,000. This phenomenon highlights the complex relationship between Gas fee revenue composition, on-chain economic activity, and the sustainability of user income and expenditure, providing a unique perspective for our in-depth analysis of the revenue sustainability of these three major public chains.

Ethereum

Gas fee revenue composition

Ethereum has undergone a series of significant upgrades, including the transition from PoW to PoS and the implementation of the EIP-1559 proposal, which has had a profound impact on its gas fee structure. The new gas fee structure is divided into two parts: a base fee that is automatically burned by the system and a tip that is paid directly to validators. The burning mechanism of the base fee is expected to drive ETH into a deflationary state, potentially increasing its value. At the same time, the dynamically adjusted base fee helps optimize network resource allocation, while the tip provides additional incentives for validators to maintain network security.

Ethereum has burned approximately $47 million worth of ETH through the base fee mechanism in the past 30 days. The main contributors to the burn amount are as follows:

• DeFi: 60%
• ETH transfer: 12%
• MEV: 8%
• NFT: 8%
• Layer 2 solutions: 6%
• Smart Contract Creation: 2%

on-chain economic activities

DeFi

Decentralized Finance ( DeFi ), as a core component of the Ethereum ecosystem, covers a diverse range of segments including DEX, lending platforms, DEX trading bots, stablecoins, derivatives, cryptocurrency wallets, and LSD, among others.

• Uniswap(DEX): In the last 30 days, revenue was $54.23 million, contributing $8.15 million in Gas fees, accounting for about 17.3%. The trading pairs with the highest volume are mainly composed of Ether and stablecoins, while the trading volume of speculative Meme tokens is extremely low.

• 1inch( DEX aggregator): contributed about $1.21 million in Gas fees, accounting for 3% of the total.

The entire DEX track accounts for over 40% in the DeFi field, and over 25% in the Ethereum ecosystem.

Stablecoin Transfer

In the past month, the Gas fees burned for stablecoin transfers on the Ethereum chain reached 4.01 million USD, accounting for about 8.5% of the total Gas fees burned during the same period.

Dex Trading Bot

The Dex Trading Bot track ranks third in terms of Gas fee contribution within the Ethereum ecosystem, accounting for about 6.9%. The two projects, Banana Gun and Maestro, hold over 90% market share.

cryptocurrency wallet

MetaMask, as the most widely used on-chain wallet project currently, has contributed $2.91 million in Gas fees and burned $940,000 over the past 30 days, accounting for about 2% of the total Gas fees on the Ethereum chain.

(# On-chain transfer

In the past month, transfers on the Ethereum chain have burned $3.83 million in gas fees, contributing an estimated total gas fee of about $25.5 million, accounting for around 12% of the total gas fees in the Ethereum ecosystem.

)# MEV

The burning fee for MEV on the Ethereum chain is approximately $3.76 million, accounting for 8% of the total burning fees on the chain.

Ethereum ecosystem summary

The Ethereum ecosystem shows a diversified but concentrated development trend in several main areas. The DeFi sector leads with a 60% share of Gas fees, followed by ETH transfers ###12%###, MEV (8%), and NFT (8%). The sub-sector with the highest on-chain Gas fee burning is DEX (26%), on-chain transfers and stablecoins (17%), Dex Trading Bot (7%), and wallet sector (3%), totaling a share of 53%. This decentralized distribution of Gas fees reflects the relatively balanced development of various sectors in Ethereum, showcasing the overall health of the ecosystem.

Solana

( Transaction Fee Composition

The fees and costs on the Solana chain can be divided into three parts:

• Transaction Fee: The fee for validators to process transactions/instructions.
• Priority Fee: An optional fee to improve the order of transaction processing
• Rent: Maintain the retained balance for on-chain data storage.

The Solana chain stipulates that a fixed proportion of each transaction fee, ), is initially burned at 50% ###, with the remainder belonging to the validators. Solana stakers have earned transaction fee rewards valued at $23.1 million in the past 30 days.

The distribution of interaction volume on the Solana chain is as follows:

• DEX Activity: 86%
• Launcher:4%
• Other activities: 10%

( on-chain economic activities

)# DEX

Raydium and Orca account for 70% of DEX interaction volume:

• Raydium: In the past 30 days, it generated $5.237 million in trading fees, with revenue mainly coming from Meme coin trading pairs.
• Orca: Generated $12.25 million in transaction fees in the past 30 days, with over 50% of revenue coming from Meme coin trading pairs.

The Gas fees contributed by Meme coin trading in the Solana ecosystem exceed 55%, approximately 30 million USD.

![In-depth Analysis: The Revenue Sustainability of the Three Major Public Chains: Ethereum, Solana, and Tron]###https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-6393a967f95ac6f4c96782f98e52fe82.webp###

(# MEV

In the last 30 days, the transaction volume on the Solana chain with priority fees )MEV### accounted for 82.45% of the total transaction volume. MEV fees accounted for as much as 80% of the transaction fees, exceeding 30 million USD.

(# Dex Trading Bot

The top three Dex Trading Bot projects ) Photon, Bonkbot, and Trojan ### account for over 90% of the trading share on this chain, with a total income of approximately $33.67 million in 30 days.

( Solana ecosystem summary

In Solana chain transactions, about 80% are contributed by Meme coin trading. Monthly cost expenditure for Meme coin players:

• MEV priority fee: 30 million USD
• Dex Trading Bot Usage Fee: 30 million USD
• DEX trading fees: 50 million USD

Estimated monthly losses for Meme coin players: $110 million

The current ecology of Solana, driven by the Meme coin model, has significant sustainability risks. Fixed player losses exceeding $100 million per month, annualized to $1.3 billion, highlight the unsustainability of the current model.

![In-depth Analysis: The Revenue Sustainability of the Three Major Public Chains: Ethereum, Solana, and Tron])https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-d3cc684311babae29246b7a1815073e4.webp###

Tron

The Tron chain has a unique design, where on-chain transaction fees are primarily used to compensate for network energy and bandwidth consumption, rather than for node bribery. Users must burn TRX to pay for transaction resources when bandwidth or energy is insufficient, promoting TRX deflation.

Since October 29, 2021, the circulation of TRX has shown a continuous deflationary trend, mainly due to the widespread use of USDT on the Tron network and its significant increase in trading volume.

On July 22, 2024, USDT transfers accounted for 94.51% of activities on the Tron chain, highlighting its absolute dominance in the Tron ecosystem. The design advantages of the Tron chain, including a low fixed transfer fee of 1U, a fast block time of 3 seconds, and no need to pay extra priority fees, give it a significant competitive advantage in the on-chain payment field.

In August 2024, Tron founder Sun Yuchen announced his entry into the Meme sector, quickly attracting a large number of Meme projects to settle in the Tron ecosystem. As of August 20, the energy consumption structure on the Tron chain has undergone significant changes: the proportion of USDT transfers has dropped to 52%, while the proportion of DEX activities has surged from 3% to 47%.

Although the proportion of USDT transfers has significantly decreased in the overall ecosystem, its actual energy consumption remains stable, maintaining in the range of 80B-90B. This indicates that, even if the future surge of Meme coins may wane, the basic operation and stability of the Tron ecosystem are expected not to be significantly impacted.

Summary

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the revenue composition and sustainability of the three major public chains: Ethereum, Solana, and Tron, leading to the following key conclusions:

Ethereum: Showcasing the most balanced and sustainable development model

• Diversified income sources: DeFi(60%), ETH transfer(12%), MEV(8%), and NFT(8%) are all developing evenly across multiple fields.
• Ecosystem Health: A reasonable proportion of core applications such as DEX and stablecoin transfers reflects real and sustained user demand.
• Innovation and Upgrades: Upgrades such as EIP-1559 have optimized the fee mechanism, creating long-term value through ETH burning.
• Long-term potential: Diverse application scenarios and continuous technological innovation provide strong long-term development momentum for Ethereum.

Solana: Rapid Growth but Faces Sustainability Challenges

• Income is highly concentrated: DEX activities account for 86%, with Meme coin trading contributing over 55% of the Gas fees.
• Widespread use of MEV: 82.45% of transactions use MEV, reflecting a highly speculative environment.
• High user costs: Meme coin players are estimated to lose $110 million per month, totaling $1.3 billion annually.
• Sustainability Risk: Over-reliance on the trading model of Meme coins is difficult to maintain in the long term and requires strategic adjustments.

Tron: Focus on the payment sector, showcasing unique advantages

• Stablecoin dominance: USDT transfers account for 94.51% of on-chain activity, reflecting its strong position in the payment sector.
• Technical advantages are obvious: low fees, fast confirmation, and a fixed fee model are suitable for large-scale payment applications.
• Structural resilience: Even during the meme coin craze, the core USDT transfer business remains stable.
• Long-term sustainability: Stablecoin transfers based on rigid demand provide Tron with a reliable long-term revenue source.

( Comprehensive Assessment

Ethereum, with its diverse ecosystem and continuous technological innovations, demonstrates the strongest long-term sustainability.

Although Solana has grown rapidly, there are significant risks associated with its over-reliance on trading Meme coins, and a strategic transformation is needed to ensure long-term development.

Tron has established a unique market position and sustainable revenue model by focusing on the payment sector, particularly stablecoin transfers.

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