Blockchain transaction fees are the fees users pay to process on-chain transactions, and they more directly measure value capture than transaction volume alone. A blockchain can process a large number of transactions while generating relatively low fees.
Based on the fee distribution across major chains last week, the rankings reflect a different picture than what the original activity metrics showed.
Hyperliquid leads in fee market share across all trading platforms, accounting for approximately 43%, with weekly revenue of around $11 million. Its fees primarily come from perpetual contract trading activity, where users pay to open, maintain, and close leveraged positions.
Over the past year, the chain's market share has grown significantly, reflecting derivatives traders' rapid migration to its purpose-built infrastructure.
Ethereum holds approximately 13% of the share, with a market cap of around $3 million, primarily due to a combination of factors such as DeFi transactions, smart contract execution, and token transfers. Compared to its previous dominance in this chart, the fee compression following the Dencun upgrade is clearly visible here.
Solana's trading volume is approximately 10%, or $2 million, highlighting a significant gap with its DEX trading volume share, reminding us that high-frequency, low-fee meme coin trading does not effectively translate into fee revenue.
Bitcoin's share is relatively small. Due to a significant decline in activity from the 2024 peak, the network has largely returned to its fundamental use as a monetary transfer system, and at current activity levels, its fee income remains limited relative to its market capitalization.
Fee share market share is increasingly becoming an effective metric for evaluating which blockchains have durable and profitable activity versus those that rely solely on speculative throughput. Hyperliquid’s dominance is particularly notable, as it is a purpose-built application chain rather than a general-purpose Layer 1, suggesting that vertical specialization may be more effective than horizontal scaling at capturing fees.
This is an excerpt from the data and insights briefing by The Block, offering an in-depth analysis of the data underlying the most thought-provoking trends in the industry.