Sustainable Income Analysis of Public Chains: A Comparative Study of Ethereum, Solana, and TRON

Introduction

The rapid development of blockchain technology has made the revenue sustainability of public chains a key indicator for assessing their long-term development potential. This report focuses on the three major mainstream public chains in the current market—Ethereum, Solana, and TRON. By analyzing the composition of their Gas fee revenues, on-chain economic activities, and user income and expenditure situations, it delves into the revenue models and sustainability of these public chains.

According to the latest data, Ethereum leads with $99.89 million in Gas fees over the past 30 days, followed closely by Solana and TRON with $46.21 million and $38.97 million respectively. However, this revenue advantage does not fully reflect in market enthusiasm and user activity. Notably, discussions about Solana have exceeded those of Ethereum in the past six months, while TRON has gained widespread recognition in the payment sector due to its low transaction fees.

The daily active address data shows a different pattern from Gas fee revenue: TRON leads with 2.1 million daily active addresses, Solana reaches 1.1 million, while Ethereum only has 316,000. This phenomenon highlights the complex relationship between Gas fee revenue composition, on-chain economic activity, and the sustainability of user income and expenditure, providing a unique perspective for in-depth analysis of the revenue sustainability of these three major public chains.

Ethereum

Gas fee income composition

Ethereum has undergone a series of significant upgrades, including the transition from PoW to PoS and the implementation of the EIP-1559 proposal, which have profoundly impacted its Gas fee structure. The new Gas fee structure consists of two parts: a base fee that is automatically burned by the system and a tip that is directly paid to validators. The burning mechanism of the base fee is expected to drive ETH into a deflationary state, potentially increasing its value. At the same time, the dynamically adjusted base fee helps optimize network resource allocation, while the tip provides additional incentives to validators to maintain network security.

In the past 30 days, Ethereum has destroyed approximately $47 million worth of ETH through the base fee mechanism. The main contributors to the destruction are as follows:

• DeFi: 60%
• Ether transfer: 12%
• MEV: 8%
• NFT: 8%
• Layer 2 solutions: 6%
• Smart contract creation: 2%

This diversified distribution of Gas fee consumption reflects the vitality and wide application scenarios of the Ethereum ecosystem, laying a solid foundation for the growth of its network value.

on-chain economic activities

DeFi

Decentralized Finance (DeFi), as a core component of the Ethereum ecosystem, encompasses a diverse range of sub-sectors. Tracks such as DEX, stablecoins, DEX trading bots, and cryptocurrency wallets stand out in terms of Gas consumption.

• Uniswap (DEX): Revenue of $54.23 million in the last 30 days, contributing $8.15 million in burnt Gas fees, accounting for about 17.3% of the Ethereum ecosystem.
• 1inch (DEX): Contributed approximately $1.21 million in Gas fees, accounting for 3% of the total.

The entire DEX track accounts for more than 40% in the DeFi field and over 25% in the Ethereum ecosystem, highlighting its position as the most active track.

Stablecoin Transfer

Stablecoin transfers rank second only to DEX in the Ethereum ecosystem, with Gas fees burned reaching 4.01 million USD in the past month, accounting for about 8.5% of the total Gas fees burned during the same period. This reflects strong on-chain capital demand and activity.

DEX Trading Bot

The DEX Trading Bot track has emerged due to the popularity of Meme coins, primarily used to facilitate users in purchasing Meme coins. Projects like Banana Gun and Maestro are among the top contributors to Gas fees, accounting for about 6.9% of the total Gas fees in the Ethereum ecosystem.

Cryptocurrency Wallet

MetaMask, as the most widely used on-chain wallet project currently, has contributed $2.91 million in Gas fees over the past 30 days, accounting for about 2% of the total Gas fees on the Ethereum blockchain.

On-chain transfer

In the past month, the Ethereum chain has burned $3.83 million in gas fees from transfers, estimated to contribute a total of about $25.5 million in gas fees, accounting for approximately 12% of the total gas fees in the Ethereum ecosystem.

MEV

The burning fee of MEV on the Ethereum chain is approximately $3.76 million, accounting for 8% of the total burning fee on the chain, indicating that participation in Meme coin projects does not dominate the Ethereum ecosystem.

Ethereum ecosystem summary

The Ethereum ecosystem shows a diversified but concentrated development trend in several major areas. The DeFi sector leads significantly with a 60% share of Gas fees, followed closely by ETH transfers (12%), MEV (8%), and NFTs (8%). The segments with the highest on-chain Gas fee burns are DEX (26%), on-chain transfers and stablecoins (17%), DEX Trading Bots (7%), and the wallet sector (3%), collectively accounting for 53%. This dispersed distribution of Gas fees reflects the relatively balanced development of various sectors within Ethereum, showcasing the overall health of the ecosystem.

Solana

Transaction fee composition

The fees and costs on the Solana chain can be divided into three parts: transaction fees, priority fees, and rent. Solana stipulates that a fixed percentage of the transaction fees (initially 50%) is burned, while the remainder belongs to the validators. The transaction fee rewards earned by Solana stakers in the last 30 days amounted to 23.1 million dollars.

The distribution of interaction volume on the Solana chain is as follows:

• DEX Activity: 86%
• Launcher: 4%
• Other activities: 10%

on-chain economic activities

DEX

Raydium and Orca account for 70% of the DEX interaction volume on the Solana chain.

• Raydium: Generated $5,237,000 in trading fees over the last 30 days, with revenue mainly coming from Meme coin trading pairs.
• Orca: Generated $12.25 million in trading fees in the last 30 days, with over 50% of revenue coming from Meme coin trading pairs.

In the entire Solana ecosystem, the Gas fees contributed by Meme coin trading exceed 55%, approximately 30 million dollars.

MEV

Transactions with priority fees (MEV) on the Solana chain account for 82.45% of the total transaction volume. MEV fees account for as much as 80% of the transaction fees, exceeding $30 million in the past 30 days.

DEX Trading Bot

The top three DEX Trading Bot projects (Photon, Bonkbot, and Trojan) account for over 90% of the trading share on this chain, with a revenue of approximately $33.67 million in the last 30 days.

Solana ecosystem summary

Solana currently relies on a meme coin-driven ecosystem that has significant sustainability risks. With fixed player losses exceeding $100 million per month, annualized to $1.3 billion, it highlights the unsustainability of the current model. The Solana ecosystem faces severe challenges and needs to seek a more balanced and sustainable development path.

TRON

The Tron chain has a unique design, and the on-chain transaction fees are mainly used to compensate for the consumption of network energy and bandwidth. When users lack bandwidth or energy, they need to burn TRX to pay for transaction resources, promoting TRX deflation.

Since October 29, 2021, the circulation of TRX has shown a continuous deflationary trend, mainly attributed to the widespread use of USDT on the TRON network and the significant increase in its trading volume.

On July 22, 2024, USDT transfers accounted for 94.51% of activities on the TRON chain, highlighting its absolute dominance in the TRON ecosystem. The low transfer fees, fast block times, and no need to pay additional priority fees make it significantly competitive in the on-chain payment sector.

In August 2024, with the large-scale entry of Meme projects, the energy consumption structure on the Tron chain underwent significant changes: the proportion of USDT transfers dropped to 52%, while the proportion of DEX activities surged to 47%. However, the actual energy consumption of USDT transfers remained stable, staying in the range of 80B-90B, highlighting its status as the cornerstone of the Tron ecosystem.

Although the fee income on the Tron chain is highly concentrated in USDT transfers, this concentration reflects the rigid demand of users for stablecoin transfers, confirming the health and sustainability of the fee income structure in the Tron ecosystem.

Summary

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the revenue composition and sustainability of the three major public chains: Ethereum, Solana, and TRON, and draws the following key conclusions:

Ethereum: Demonstrating the most balanced and sustainable development model

• Diversified sources of income: Balanced development across multiple fields such as DeFi, Ether transfers, MEV, and NFTs.
• Ecosystem health: A reasonable proportion of core applications reflects real and sustained user demand.
• Innovation and Upgrades: Upgrades like EIP-1559 have optimized the fee mechanism, creating long-term value through ETH burning.
• Long-term potential: Diverse application scenarios and continuous technological innovation provide strong momentum for long-term development.

Solana: Rapid growth but facing sustainability challenges

• Revenue is highly concentrated: DEX activities account for 86%, with Meme coin trading contributing over 55% of the Gas fees.
• MEV is widely used: 82.45% of transactions use MEV, reflecting a highly speculative environment.
• High user costs: Meme coin players are estimated to lose 110 million USD per month, which amounts to an annualized loss of 1.3 billion USD.
• Sustainability risk: The model of relying excessively on Meme coin trading is difficult to maintain in the long term and requires strategic adjustments.

TRON: Focused on the payment sector, showcasing unique advantages

• Stablecoin Dominance: USDT transfers account for 94.51% of on-chain activity, reflecting its strong position in the payment sector.
• Technical advantages are obvious: low fees, fast confirmation, and a fixed fee model are suitable for large-scale payment applications.
• Structural resilience: Even during the Meme coin craze, the core USDT transfer business remains stable.
• Long-term sustainability: Stablecoin transfers based on rigid demand provide Tron with a reliable long-term source of income.

Comprehensive Assessment

Ethereum demonstrates the strongest long-term sustainability due to its diverse ecosystem and ongoing technological innovations. Solana, while growing rapidly, faces significant risks due to its over-reliance on the trading model of Meme coins and requires a strategic transformation to ensure long-term development. TRON has established a unique market position and sustainable revenue model by focusing on the payment sector, particularly stablecoin transfers.

![In-depth Analysis: Sustainability of Revenue for the Three Major Public Chains: Ethereum, Solana, and TRON](