Ethereum's earnings from fees rose by 3% from 2023 to 2024, reaching $2.48 billion. This increase happened despite the Dencun upgrade that took place early last year, which aimed to lower network fees.
In fact, Ethereum was the top-earning blockchain last year. It outperformed others like Tron, which earned $2.15 billion, and Bitcoin (BTC), which brought in $922 million. This data comes from a report by CoinGecko published on January 21.
The fee earnings in 2024 show a slight increase from the $2.41 billion collected in 2023. According to CoinGecko research analyst Lim Yu Qian, Ethereum has managed to maintain its lead in fee earnings, even after the Dencun upgrade in March 2024. This upgrade was designed to reduce transaction costs for layer 2 networks.
Interestingly, even though some analysts suggested that the upgrade could hurt mainnet revenue and lower Ether (ETH) prices, Ethereum's fee earnings remained strong. In the first quarter of 2024, Ethereum earned $1.17 billion. This amount accounted for almost half of its total fee earnings for the year. It was also the highest earning quarter for Ethereum in the last two years, driven by increased on-chain activity due to various airdrop programs.
On January 18, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin announced changes in the Ethereum Foundation's leadership. He aimed to improve communication with builders in the ecosystem. Following this, core developer Eric Conner announced his departure from the community on January 21 after Buterin rejected calls for a leadership shakeup and asserted his authority over the foundation.
Overall, across 21 layer 1 protocols, the total fees collected reached $6.60 billion. Meanwhile, layer 2 blockchains earned a collective $294 million. Tron saw a significant increase in fee earnings, rising by 116.7% from $922.08 million in 2023. Bitcoin also experienced growth, with a 16% increase in annual fee earnings for 2024 compared to 2023.
Solana stood out with the most dramatic increase, skyrocketing by 2,838%. Its fee earnings jumped from $25 million in 2023 to $750 million in 2024. This surge was largely driven by the memecoin craze, which also pushed the Solana network to a record 100 million active wallets in October.
CoinGecko's report analyzed gas fees earned by blockchains from January 1, 2023, to December 31, 2024. The data provides a clear picture of the evolving landscape of blockchain earnings.