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Onchain activity creates a business only when it delivers a useful service and someone can capture value from providing it. A transaction recorded on a blockchain is evidence of activity—not, by itself, proof of customer demand, revenue, or a durable business. The Web3 economic stack connects user access, blockchain execution, settlement assets, and applications; each layer can create value in a different way.
What is the Web3 economic stack?
The Web3 economic stack is the set of connected services that lets people access blockchain networks, move assets, and use applications. It can include a wallet, the blockchain that executes and settles transactions, stablecoins, financial applications, token-issuance services, and governance systems such as decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs).
The business question at every layer is the same: what useful job is being done, who pays or contributes value for it, and who receives the resulting economics? A recorded transaction may reflect a payment, a trade, an automated contract call, or activity that has little economic significance. The record alone does not answer those questions.
How does onchain activity make money?
Businesses and participants may earn fees, spreads, interest, issuance-related revenue, or service charges. The mechanism depends on the service. Some revenue is tied to repeat use; some rises and falls with trading or borrowing activity. A protocol generating fees does not automatically mean its tokenholders receive them: distribution depends on the project’s specific rules and arrangements.
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| Layer or service | Value delivered | Possible economic mechanism | Who may capture value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wallet access | Lets a user manage assets and interact with applications. | Service charges or other wallet-specific business models; the mechanism varies by provider. | A wallet provider may earn from its services. A wallet is also simply an access tool and need not itself be a paid service. |
| Blockchain execution and settlement | Processes transactions and records their outcomes. | Transaction fees or other network-level economics, depending on the chain. | Network participants or infrastructure providers may receive economics under the network’s rules. |
| Trading and liquidity | Enables users to exchange assets and access liquidity. | Trading fees or spreads; liquidity providers may receive a share of fees under an application’s rules. | An application operator, liquidity provider, or other designated participant may benefit. Tokenholder participation is not automatic. |
| Lending and collateral | Connects borrowers, lenders, and assets pledged as collateral. | Interest, spreads, or service fees, with economics shaped by the lending design and risks. | Lenders, application operators, or other participants may receive value according to the arrangement. |
| Stablecoin settlement and transfer | Moves a digital settlement asset between users and applications; stablecoins can also serve as trading, collateral, or treasury assets. | Transfer or service charges may apply, but the economic model varies; use of a stablecoin does not by itself establish who earns revenue. | Depending on the service, a provider or application may capture value. Settlement activity alone does not identify the recipient. |
| Token issuance and DAO coordination | Supports the creation of tokens or coordination of a community and treasury. | Issuance-related or service revenue may exist, but it depends on the project and is not guaranteed by token creation or governance activity. | An issuer, service provider, or treasury may benefit under specific arrangements; governance rights do not necessarily confer revenue rights. |
These are possible mechanisms, not a claim that every project in a category uses them or earns meaningful revenue. A service can attract transactions without retaining revenue, and a fee can accrue to a different participant than the one a user assumes.
How do Web3 companies make money across the stack?
Wallets provide access, not proof of a business
A wallet gives users a way to send and receive transactions and connect to applications. Consensys and YouGov’s global survey findings, published 10 December 2024, identify sending and receiving transactions with a Web3 wallet as the most commonly reported activity in that survey. That finding describes reported wallet use; it does not establish that a hardware wallet is necessary, superior, or the right custody choice for an individual.
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Self-custody can give a user direct control of keys, while also making the user responsible for protecting access and recovery information. A hardware device is one optional way to manage keys, not a requirement for using Web3. The survey does not determine which custody setup is appropriate for a reader.
Blockchains execute and settle
The network layer processes contract calls and records outcomes. Its economic role is to provide execution and settlement. Network fees or other incentives may fund participants who help operate the system, but the specific recipients and rules differ by network. High transaction counts alone do not show that the network is providing a valuable service at sustainable cost.
Stablecoins connect applications
Stablecoins can function as settlement assets across payments, trading, collateralization, and treasury operations. DefiLlama Research’s State of DeFi 2025, published 23 December 2025, describes this connective role. A stablecoin can therefore support activity in multiple parts of the stack, but its use is not the same as revenue earned by a particular application or proof of lasting demand.
Applications turn infrastructure into services
Trading applications can monetize exchange activity through fees or spreads. Lending applications can earn from the economics of credit and collateral. Token-launch services may charge for issuance-related services, while DAOs may use governance and treasury processes to coordinate resources. These are distinct business models, not interchangeable forms of “onchain revenue.” Their durability depends on whether users continue to need the service, whether execution works reliably, and whether risks are controlled.
Who captures the value?
Value can flow to different parties: an application operator, validators or other infrastructure providers, liquidity providers, lenders, a treasury, tokenholders, or users receiving a service. Some participants may contribute capital or infrastructure without receiving all—or any—of the revenue generated elsewhere in the stack.
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To understand a project’s economics, trace the actual path from user activity to revenue and then to its recipient. Check whether a fee is retained by an operator, paid to liquidity providers, used by a treasury, or distributed under an explicit token mechanism. Do not treat a token’s existence, a governance vote, or a protocol fee as evidence that tokenholders share in the proceeds.
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How can you tell economic activity from noisy metrics?
Onchain metrics depend on what is counted, how transactions are grouped, which chains are included, and what adjustments are made. The Bank for International Settlements’ 2026 working paper, Hidden by complexity? Measuring stablecoin, crypto and decentralised finance ecosystems, says onchain indicators should be treated as noisy approximations rather than direct measures of economic activity. Its researchers classified 13 million active contracts, including about 1.4 million tokens. The paper describes challenges including economically meaningful aggregation of Bitcoin transaction values, contract proliferation, and differing stablecoin use across chains; it reports that Bitcoin transaction values can vary by up to a factor of six across measurement approaches.
Volume estimates also need their methodology attached. In State of Crypto 2025: The year crypto went mainstream, a16z crypto estimated $9 trillion in adjusted stablecoin transaction volume over the prior 12 months, up 87% year over year. The estimate uses an adjustment intended to filter bots and other inflationary activity; gross volume is larger. a16z cautions that gross transaction volume represents financial flows and is not directly comparable to retail card payments. Treat the figure as that report’s estimate and methodology, not as a universally accepted measure of stablecoin business revenue.
How should you assess an onchain business?
Use this checklist when evaluating a protocol, application, or network. A metric without its scope and definition can create a false impression of scale.
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- Define the metric: Is it transactions, active contracts, users, gross volume, adjusted volume, fees, or revenue?
- State its period and scope: Identify the dates covered and the chain or chains included.
- Explain the adjustments: Note exclusions, filtering, aggregation, or other methods used to produce the figure.
- Separate activity from economics: Distinguish gross flows and recorded interactions from organic or adjusted activity, revenue, and value captured.
- Trace the recipient: Establish which entity or stakeholder receives fees or other proceeds; do not infer tokenholder benefits from protocol activity.
- Consider costs and execution: Where data are available, compare revenue with operating or incentive costs and assess reliability and risk controls.
- Look for repeat demand: Ask whether people use the service when incentives fade, rather than relying on a peak-period activity figure.
DefiLlama Research reports that outcomes across DeFi sectors were uneven in 2025, with some developing more durable financial businesses and others struggling to sustain product-market fit as incentives faded and risk was repriced. The report associates retained activity and revenue with reliable execution, credible risk controls, and clear economic models. That makes repeat use and risk management as important to an assessment as a headline transaction total.
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