Analysis of Revenue Sustainability of Public Blockchains: A Case Study of Ethereum, Solana, and TRON

Introduction

This report focuses on the three major mainstream public chains: Ethereum, Solana, and TRON. By analyzing their Gas fee revenue composition, on-chain economic activities, and user income and expenditure situations, it delves into the revenue models of these public chains and their sustainability.

According to the latest data, the total Ethereum Gas fees over the past 30 days amounted to 99.89 million USD, far exceeding Solana's 46.21 million USD and TRON's 38.97 million USD. However, the daily active address data shows a different pattern: TRON leads with 2.1 million, Solana reaches 1.1 million, while Ethereum has only 316,000. This phenomenon highlights the complex relationship between Gas fee revenue, on-chain activity, and user participation.

Ethereum

Gas fee income composition

Ethereum has undergone a series of major upgrades, including the transition from PoW to PoS and the implementation of the EIP-1559 proposal, which has a profound impact on its Gas fee structure. The new Gas fee structure is divided into two parts:

• Base Fee: The system automatically destroys
• Tip: Directly paid to validators

The burning mechanism of the base fee is expected to drive ETH into a deflationary state, potentially increasing its value. The dynamically adjusted base fee helps to optimize network resource allocation, while tips provide additional incentives for validators to maintain network security.

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

• DeFi: 60%
• Ether transfer: 12%
• MEV: 8%
• NFT: 8%

On-chain economic activities

DeFi

DeFi, as the core of the Ethereum ecosystem, encompasses multiple segments such as DEX, lending, and stablecoins. Major projects include:

• Uniswap: $54.23 million in revenue over the past 30 days, contributing $8.15 million in Gas fees, accounting for 17.3%.
• 1inch: Contributed approximately $1.21 million in Gas fees, accounting for 3%

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

Stablecoin Transfer

In the past month, the Gas fees burned related to 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. This was mainly composed of USDT and USDC.

DEX Trading Bot

The DEX trading robot project ( ranks third in Gas fee contribution, mainly for Banana Gun and Maestro ). Banana Gun contributed $1.73 million in Gas fees in the last 30 days, accounting for 3.68%; Maestro contributed $1.51 million, accounting for 3.21%.

Crypto Wallet

MetaMask, as the most widely used on-chain wallet, contributed $2.91 million in Gas fees over the past 30 days, accounting for approximately 2%.

On-chain transfer

In the past month, $3.83 million in gas fees have been burned, contributing approximately $25.5 million in total gas fees, accounting for about 12%.

MEV

The MEV burn fee is approximately $3.76 million, accounting for 8% of the total burn fee on the blockchain.

Ethereum ecosystem summary

The Ethereum ecosystem demonstrates a diversified development trend but is concentrated in several main areas:

• DeFi sector accounts for 60%
• ETH transfer 12%
• MEV 8%
• NFT 8%

These four categories account for 88% of the total Gas consumption. In the subdivided tracks:

• DEX 26%
• On-chain transfers and stablecoins 17%
• DEX Trading Bot 7%
• Wallet track 3%

Overall, the development of various tracks in Ethereum is relatively balanced, reflecting the overall health of the ecosystem.

Solana

Transaction Fee Composition

The fees on the Solana blockchain are divided into three parts:

• Transaction Fee
• Priority Fee
• Rent

Solana stipulates that 50% of the transaction fees for each transaction are burned, and 50% go to the validators. In the past 30 days, stakers have earned transaction fee rewards worth $23.1 million.

On-chain economic activities

DEX

DEX activities account for 86% of the interaction volume on the Solana chain. Among them:

• Raydium: generated $5,237,000 in transaction fees in the last 30 days.
• Orca: Generated $12.25 million in trading fees in the last 30 days.

It is worth noting that Meme coin trading accounts for over 90% and 60% respectively in these two major DEX.

MEV

In the past 30 days, transactions 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, approximately 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. The total revenue in the past 30 days is approximately $33.67 million.

Solana ecosystem summary

The current Solana ecosystem is mainly driven by Meme coin trading, with about 80% of on-chain transactions contributed by Meme coins. Monthly cost expenditure for Meme coin players:

• MEV Priority Fee: 30 million USD
• DEX Trading Bot Usage Fee: $30 million
• DEX Trading Fees: 50 million USD

Meme coin players are expected to incur monthly losses of 110 million USD. This model, which relies on Meme coins, poses significant sustainability risks.

TRON

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

Since October 29, 2021, the circulating supply of TRX has shown a continuous deflationary trend, mainly due to the widespread use of USDT on the TRON network.

On July 22, 2024, USDT transfers accounted for 94.51% of activities on the TRON blockchain. TRON's low transfer fees, fast block times, and lack of additional priority fees give it a significant competitive advantage in the on-chain payment space.

In August 2024, after TRON founder Justin Sun announced his entry into the Meme track, the on-chain energy consumption structure changed:

• The proportion of USDT transfers has dropped to 52%.
• The proportion of DEX activities increased from 3% to 47%

Although the proportion of USDT transfers has decreased, its actual energy consumption remains stable, maintained in the range of 80B-90B. This indicates that the introduction of Meme projects has not substantially affected TRON's core business.

Summary

• Ethereum: Showcases the most balanced and sustainable development model, with diversified income sources and a healthy ecosystem.

• Solana: High growth but faces sustainability challenges, revenue highly concentrated on Meme coin trading, user costs are high.

• TRON: Focused on the payment field, showcasing unique advantages, with stablecoin transfers dominating and possessing structural resilience.

Comprehensive evaluation shows that Ethereum, with its diversified ecosystem and continuous technological innovation, demonstrates the strongest long-term sustainability. Solana needs strategic transformation to ensure long-term development. TRON has established a unique market position and sustainable revenue model by focusing on the payment sector.