DeFi revenues plunge in March as onchain activity slows
Quick Take
- Most major DeFi protocols across Solana, Ethereum, and BNB Chain saw revenue declines of over 50% in March, reflecting a broader downturn in onchain activity and trading volumes.
- MakerDAO was the only major DeFi protocol to post revenue growth, while DeFi tokens have struggled, with the GMDEFI index down 40% year-to-date.
- The following is an excerpt from The Block’s Data and Insights newsletter.
The total revenue generated by most major DeFi protocols was down significantly in March. Revenue is described as fees accrued to both the protocol itself or its token holders and excludes fees to the supply side.
Solana-based DeFi protocols, which include Pump.fun, Jito and Raydium, cumulatively generated roughly $42 million worth of revenue in March. Those figures are down about 55% compared to February’s and down about 75% from their previous record high in January.
Over at BNB Chain, Pancakeswap generated just $21 million worth of revenue in March, down 54% month-over-month.
Meanwhile, Ethereum-based DeFi protocols that have exhibited similar patterns include Ethena, Lido, Aave, Curve, Compound and Sushi. This basket of protocols cumulatively generated just $24.5 million worth of revenue in March, down over 52% and 65% since February and January, respectively.
Interestingly, unlike its peers, MakerDAO (now known as Sky) experienced a month-over-month increase in revenue, as it generated $10 million in March, up 11%. MakerDAO (Sky) is the only protocol out of the 11 mentioned so far to have a positive month-over-month increase in its revenue.
The significant revenue falloff for the wider DeFi sector was likely due to a broader decline in on-chain activity and trading volumes of all major blockchains. This has directly led to similarly poor returns from DeFi tokens in 2025 so far, with GMCI’s DeFi Index, GMDEFI, down 40% on a year-to-date basis.
GMCI’s GMDEFI is an index containing tokens of various DeFi projects from multiple chains, including Uniswap, Aave, Jupiter, Ethena, Maker, PancakeSwap and Ethena, among many others.
This is an excerpt from The Block's Data & Insights newsletter. Dig into the numbers making up the industry's most thought-provoking trends.
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