Revisiting Maker: Expanding the TAM

As covered in last year's Summer of DeFi report, the outsized growth in volumes and capital flow (usage) of DeFi protocols helped to materialize protocol revenue (defined as revenue that is earned by both underlying protocol token holders and protocol liquidity providers) last summer (<$50 million across DeFi).

8 months and a bull market later and the revenue that is being generated from DeFi protocols has now crossed ~$1 billion in 2021! For some protocols with a governance token, these protocol fees may already be partially accruing to token holders through various attempts to distribute and capture protocol value (Refer to: Tokens are equity in Internet-native businesses, Honkasalo. July 2020).