Key Takeaways
Hyperliquid has emerged as crypto’s largest non-stablecoin revenue generator of 2026, bringing in $429.04 million between Jan. 1 and Sept. 15, according to new CoinGecko research.
The decentralized perpetual futures platform captured 13% of the $3.40 billion generated by the projects included in the study. Its revenue also exceeded the combined $454.30 million earned by Axiom Pro and Sky, the third- and fourth-ranked projects.
Pump.fun finished second with $322.21 million, giving it a 9.5% share. Together, Hyperliquid and the Solana-based memecoin launchpad generated $751.25 million, equivalent to 22% of the tracked total.
The figures underline the strength of speculative trading platforms during a difficult year for the wider crypto market.
Bitcoin fell by almost 40% over the period examined, but demand for perpetual futures, memecoin launches, and on-chain trading tools continued to generate substantial fees.
+81
Bitcoin
Ethereum
Tether
Build'N'Build
USD Coin
Solana
Ripple
Dogecoin
Cardano
Toncoin
Shiba Inu
Avalanche
TRON
Chainlink
Polkadot
Wrapped Bitcoin
Litecoin
Dai
NEAR Protocol
Bitcoin Cash
Monero
Stellar
Cosmos
Filecoin
Ethereum Classic
Aptos
Immutable
Unstoppable Ecosystem Token
Arbitrum
The Sandbox
Decentraland
Axie Infinity
Injective Protocol
Render Token
The Graph
Aave
Chiliz
Helium
PAX Gold
Compound
Lido DAO Token
THORChain
Stacks
Arweave
Sui
Uniswap
Pepe
Ondo
Mantle
Bittensor
Kaspa
Celestia
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance
Jupiter
Quant
Worldcoin
PayPal USD
Bonk
Flare
Sei
JITO
JasmyCoin
PancakeSwap
Floki Inu
Ethereum Name Service
SushiSwap
Kava.io
1inch Network
Tezos
Algorand
Flow
Curve DAO Token
MultiversX
Zcash
Basic Attention Token
Enjin Coin
Ethena
Hedera Hashgraph
VeChain
Conflux Network
XDC Network
Tether Gold
Bitget Token
Polygon Ecosystem Token
Pi Network
OKB
+76
Bitcoin
Ethereum
Tether
USD Coin
Solana
Ripple
Dogecoin
Cardano
Toncoin
Shiba Inu
Avalanche
TRON
Chainlink
Polygon Matic
Polkadot
Wrapped Bitcoin
Litecoin
Dai
NEAR Protocol
Bitcoin Cash
Stellar
Cosmos
Filecoin
Ethereum Classic
Aptos
Hedera Hashgraph
Immutable
Optimism
Arbitrum
VeChain
The Sandbox
Decentraland
Axie Infinity
Injective Protocol
Render
The Graph
Aave
Chiliz
Helium
PAX Gold
Compound
Lido DAO Token
Sui
Conflux Network
Lido Staked ETH
OKB
Uniswap
Pepe
Ondo
Mantle
First Digital USD
XDC Network
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance
Jupiter
Quant
Worldcoin
Bonk
Tether Gold
JITO
JasmyCoin
Core
Floki Inu
Ethereum Name Service
SushiSwap
1inch Network
Tezos
Algorand
Flow
Trust Wallet Token
Curve DAO Token
MultiversX
Basic Attention Token
Enjin Coin
Ethena
Ethena Staked USDe
Build'N'Build
Kava.io
Celestia
Sei
IOTA
Frax
+217
Bitcoin
Ethereum
Tether
Build'N'Build
USD Coin
Solana
Ripple
Dogecoin
Cardano
Toncoin
Shiba Inu
Avalanche
TRON
Chainlink
Polkadot
Polygon Matic
Wrapped Bitcoin
Litecoin
Dai
NEAR Protocol
Bitcoin Cash
Monero
Stellar
Cosmos
Filecoin
Ethereum Classic
Aptos
Hedera Hashgraph
Immutable
Optimism
Arbitrum
VeChain
The Sandbox
Decentraland
Axie Infinity
Injective Protocol
Render Token
The Graph
Maker
Aave
Chiliz
Helium
PAX Gold
Compound
Lido DAO Token
THORChain
Stacks
Arweave
Sui
Conflux Network
Lido Staked ETH
Bitget Token
Wrapped Ethereum
OKB
Uniswap
Pepe
Ondo
Mantle
First Digital USD
Bittensor
Kaspa
Celestia
XDC Network
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance
Jupiter
Quant
Worldcoin
PayPal USD
Bonk
Flare
Tether Gold
Sei
JITO
JasmyCoin
PancakeSwap
Core
Floki Inu
Ethereum Name Service
SushiSwap
Kava.io
1inch Network
Tezos
Algorand
Flow
Trust Wallet Token
Curve DAO Token
KuCoin Token
MultiversX
Gitcoin
Zcash
IOTA
Basic Attention Token
Frax
Ethena
Ethena USDe
Fasttoken
Pi Network
SATS
Adventure Gold
Audius
Alchemy Pay
Arkham
API3
Bounce Token
Altlayer
Aergo
Amp
Aevo
ARPA Chain
Astar
Ark
Ankr
AirSwap
Alpaca Finance
Blur
Badger DAO
Bancor
BakeryToken
Biconomy
Chromia
Celer Network
Celo
Shentu
Civic
Convex Finance
Cartesi
Cyber
COTI
DigiByte
DIA
ether.fi
FUNToken
FLUX
Firo
Ampleforth
Golem
GMX
Gnosis
Moonbeam
Holo
IoTex
ICON
Illuvium
JUST
Kadena
Liquity
Livepeer
Lisk
Memecoin
Manta Network
Treasure
Mask Network
MetisDAO
Origin Protocol
ORDI
Ontology
Osmosis
Powerledger
Phala Network
Pendle
Portal
Pyth Network
ConstitutionDAO
Polkastarter
Qtum
iExec RLC
Rocket Pool
Reserve Rights
Ronin
Ravencoin
Starknet
Storj
Status
Spell Token
Sun (New)
SuperVerse
Toko Token
Theta Fuel
Tellor
Tensor
LayerZero
Usual
Eigenlayer
Hamster Kombat
Catizen
Berachain
KAITO
Pudgy Penguins
Solayer
Bio Protocol
ChainGPT
Cookie DAO
Solv Protocol
Alchemix
Bitcoin SV
Movement
DeXe
Binance Staked SOL
Nexo
Wrapped eETH
Hyperliquid
Casper
Zilliqa
Secret
Nervos Network
TrueUSD
BitTorrent
Mina
Dash
STEPN
Gemini Dollar
UNUS SED LEO
Synthetix
APEcoin
Gala
Theta Network
Fantom
Cronos
Internet Computer
Binance USD
Hyperliquid’s lead reflects the continued popularity of perpetual futures, or “perps,” which allow traders to take leveraged long or short positions without an expiry date.
The platform operates an on-chain order book through HyperCore, combining features associated with centralized exchanges, such as rapid execution and deep liquidity, with blockchain-based settlement.
Its model generates revenue from trading activity regardless of whether cryptocurrency prices rise or fall. Volatile and declining markets can therefore remain profitable for the platform as traders reposition portfolios, hedge exposure or speculate with leverage.
Top 10 Projects by YTD Generated Revenue
1. @HyperliquidX – $429M
2. @Pumpfun – $322M
3. @AxiomExchange – $132M
4. @SkyEcosystem – $130M
5. @Gmgnai – $126M
6. @Polymarket – $115M
7. @Worldlibertyfi – $95M
8. @Paxos – $88M
9. @EdgeX_exchange – $84M
10. @Titanbuilderxyz – $83MDo…
— CoinGecko (@coingecko) September 20, 2026
Hyperliquid’s wider ecosystem also creates revenue opportunities for external applications. Its builder program allows wallets, bots, and trading interfaces to route transactions into HyperCore while charging additional fees.
Axiom Pro, ranked third on CoinGecko’s revenue table with $132.09 million, is one example of a trading terminal that provides access to perpetual futures and integrates Hyperliquid for that functionality.
Hyperliquid’s revenue performance has coincided with substantial gains for its native HYPE token. HYPE reportedly reached an all-time high of $92 on Sept. 18 and had risen approximately 260% since the beginning of the year, even as Bitcoin remained well below its October 2025 record.
However, growing competition could test that momentum. Centralized and regulated platforms are increasingly expanding into perpetual futures, potentially challenging Hyperliquid’s early advantage.
CoinGecko’s rankings show that infrastructure surrounding speculative activity can generate as much revenue as the underlying protocols.
Pump.fun earned almost all of its $322.21 million from token creation and trading fees associated with its Solana memecoin launchpad. Axiom Pro followed with $132.09 million, while stablecoin issuer Sky ranked fourth at $129.87 million.
GMGN, another trading terminal focused primarily on Solana memecoins, generated $126.03 million and secured fifth place. Its performance mirrors Pump.fun’s success because both platforms benefit from the same demand for rapid token launches and speculative trading.
HYPERLIQUID TRADER UP $16.3M TRADING CRYPTO AND STOCKS
MRVL Long OG is running $61.8M in perp positions, currently up +$1.46M unrealized.
The book includes a $25.21M $BTC short alongside tokenized stock longs:
· $SPCX: $12.56M, +$1.71M
· $MU: $8.21M, +$174.5K
· $SNDK: $7.91M,… pic.twitter.com/IuWjhcNKtt— Onchain Lens (@OnchainLens) September 21, 2026
Polymarket ranked sixth with $115.48 million in revenue, followed by World Liberty Financial at $95.37 million and Paxos at $87.93 million. Perpetual futures platform edgeX and MEV infrastructure provider Titan Builder completed the top 10 with $84.37 million and $83.47 million, respectively.
The remaining positions went to Collector Crypt, Phantom, Aave, payments project fomo, and decentralized exchange Aerodrome.
Collectively, the top 15 projects captured 56% of the $3.40 billion tracked by CoinGecko. However, no single sector dominated the entire ranking. The list included perpetual futures platforms, trading terminals, stablecoin issuers, a launchpad, a prediction market, a wallet, a lending protocol, an RWA business and a decentralized exchange.
That diversity suggests crypto’s revenue base is expanding beyond conventional DeFi products, even though trading and speculation remain its strongest engines.
Across all tracked projects, including Tether and Circle, crypto generated an average of $1.08 billion in monthly revenue during the first eight months of 2026.
That represented a 12% decline from the $1.22 billion monthly average recorded throughout 2025. Compared with the first eight months of last year, when projects averaged $1.20 billion per month, revenue declined by 10.14%.
The drop was relatively modest compared with Bitcoin’s nearly 40% decline, suggesting that established crypto platforms can maintain activity and fee generation during market downturns.

CoinGecko excluded Tether and Circle from its primary top-15 ranking because their scale would obscure differences among other projects.
It also excluded Grayscale, which would otherwise have ranked third with $154.14 million, because its sponsor fees depend on assets under management rather than protocol usage.
The methodology also includes an important distinction: not every dollar classified as crypto revenue came directly from on-chain fees. Stablecoin businesses such as Paxos and World Liberty Financial derive much of their income from off-chain reserves.
Even with those qualifications, Hyperliquid’s lead remains significant. Its $429 million in total revenue shows that demand for decentralized leveraged trading has created one of the sector’s strongest revenue machines, even as the broader market remains under pressure.
Giuseppe Ciccomascolo began his career as an investigative journalist in Italy, where he contributed to both local and national newspapers, focusing on various financial sectors.
Upon relocating to London, he worked as an analyst for Fitch's CapitalStructure and later as a Senior Reporter for Alliance News. In 2017, Giuseppe transitioned to covering cryptocurrency-related news, producing documentaries and articles on Bitcoin and other emerging digital currencies. He also played a pivotal role in establishing the academy for a cryptocurrency exchange website. Crypto remained his primary area of interest throughout his tenure as a writer for ThirdFloor.
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