Introduction

The blockchain industry is displaying renewed signs of maturity, indicated by a key metric often overlooked. This suggests broader adoption across decentralized finance (DeFi), consumer applications, and emerging sectors. A recent Onchain Revenue Report from venture capital firm 1kx projects onchain revenue, measured by user-paid fees, to reach $19.8 billion in 2025. This follows a record-breaking $9.7 billion in the first half of the year alone.

User Fees as a Key Indicator

These fees represent the total amount users spend to transact directly on blockchain and related infrastructure. This includes trades, swaps, registrations, gaming revenues, and subscriptions. While 2025 isn't expected to surpass the all-time high of $24.1 billion seen in 2021, total onchain fees have grown more than tenfold since 2020, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 60%. According to report authors Lasse Clausen, Christopher Heymann, Robert Koschig, Clare He, and Johannes Säuberlich, "We view fees paid as the best indicator, reflecting repeatable utility that users and firms are willing to pay for." They further emphasized, "As protocols mature and regulation improves, the ability to generate and distribute consistent fee revenue will separate durable networks from early-stage experiments."

Impact of Rising Blockchain Fees

Beyond financial health, rising onchain fees provide insights into the broader adoption of blockchain technology. This is particularly evident in emerging areas like real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePINs), and wallet-based consumer applications. The 1kx report posits that this growth underscores a fundamental shift: cryptocurrencies are evolving from speculative assets to legitimate, revenue-generating assets with tangible network effects.

Tokenized Assets Gaining Momentum

The report highlights the rapid growth of tokenized RWAs. The onchain value of these assets, excluding stablecoins, surged to over $28 billion by the third quarter of 2025. Data from RWA.xyz indicates this figure has since surpassed $35 billion. According to 1kx, the total value of tokenized assets onchain has more than doubled in the past year. Furthermore, fees generated by these assets are growing even faster, indicating increased user activity and market adoption. Major Wall Street institutions, including JPMorgan, BlackRock, and BNY Mellon, are making substantial investments in asset tokenization. As reported by Cointelegraph, JPMorgan has tokenized one of its private equity funds on its private Kinexys blockchain, while BNY Mellon has partnered with RWA platform Securitize to bring collateralized loan obligations onchain.