DeFi in 2025 has quietly shifted from an experiment in liquidity incentives to a real, on-chain business sector.

While attention has rotated between narratives, protocols has continued to do something far more important than chasing hype, they’ve generated real revenue, consistently and at scale.

𝘓𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘴, 𝘋𝘌𝘟𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘺 𝘛𝘝𝘓 𝘰𝘳 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘥, 𝘭𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺.

What’s notable isn’t just the absolute revenue figures, but the diversity of business models producing them.

Perp DEXs monetize derivatives flow, AMMs capture swap activity, and lending protocols earn from interest spreads and liquidations, all without centralized intermediaries.
---------------------------------------
Here are 10 protocols that generated good amount of revenue this year 👇

➢ @HyperliquidX is the first on the list as it has $66.05m in 30d revenue and has $805m in annualized revenue

Hyperliquid is a high-volume perp DEX that get revenue from futures and derivatives trading.

Its aggressive fee allocation which go to burning and assistance funds boosts its token value and revenue share for holders.

Hyperliquid is top on the list because of its high trading volume from perps market and another thing that drives it is the revenue share for the ecosystem
---------------------------------------

➢ @Pumpfun also had a great year as it has $22.59m in 30d revenue and has $275.6m in annualized revenue.

Pumpfun is the launchpad and memecoin hub that we all know, fees from token launches, initial liquidity, and meme trading.

It actively redistributes revenue through token buybacks.
---------------------------------------

➢ @AxiomExchange has strong recent performance with around $18.1m in 30d revenue and $220.8m in annualized revenue, showing significant trading activity and fee generation.

Axiom Pro is another trading platform that combines high-speed spot and perpetual crypto trading with advanced analytics, order execution tools, and automation features.

It supports both memecoin trading and leveraged perps through integrations like Hyperliquid.
---------------------------------------

➢ @SkyEcosystem has a huge annualized revenue of $159.6m with its 30d revenue of $13.08m

Sky Ecosystem earns stability and borrowing fees from DAI/credit positions, and RWA yields contribute.

CDP and stablecoin yields make its revenue stable even in volatile markets.
---------------------------------------

➢ @JupiterExchange has had an annualized revenue of $139.9m , which is really a good one as its 30d revenue is $11.47m

Jupiter as we all know is a Solana DEX aggregator that get fees from swaps and transaction from trading activity.

The team gives a meaningful share of revenue goes to JUP token holders.
---------------------------------------

➢ @aave has consistent revenue generation according to DefiLlama, with about $7.55m in 30d revenue and approximately $92.09m in annualized revenue.

Aave is one of the largest lending and borrowing protocols in DeFi, earning revenue mainly from interest and fees paid by borrowers which includes borrow interest, flashloan fees, liquidation penalties that accrue to the Aave treasury.
---------------------------------------

➢ @AerodromeFi has strong revenue figures, with about $7.15m in 30-day revenue and approximately $87.62m in annualized revenue across the combined Aerodrome protocol.

Aerodrome is a DEX built on Base. It earns revenue mainly from swap fees collected on its AMM pools.

These fees, after LP distributions, contribute to the protocol’s tracked revenue, which DefiLlama reports as what flows to the treasury or token holders.
---------------------------------------

➢ @PancakeSwap has an annualized revenue of $63.22m and its 30d revenue is $5.18m

PancakeSwap earns revenue from swap fees, and a portion of fees is used for CAKE buybacks and burns benefiting holders and boosting incentive to generate revenue.
---------------------------------------

➢ @Raydium has meaningful revenue tracked on DefiLlama, with about $2.19m in 30d revenue and roughly $26.7m in annualized revenue.

Raydium is a key AMM and DEX built on Solana that earns revenue from spot trading fees and protocol-level fee allocations after liquidity providers and ecosystem incentives.
---------------------------------------

➢ @CurveFinance has roughly $1.31m in 30d revenue and about $15.97m in annualized revenue reflecting its activity as a major stablecoin-focused DEX in DeFi.

Curve Finance is one of the longest-standing DEX in DeFi, optimized for low-slippage stablecoin swaps and used heavily for large-scale stable-asset trading.

Which one do you think i missed? lemme know in the comments 👇