TRON network’s revenue saw an impressive rise in August while Ethereum recorded a notable decrease.
According to data shared by Lookonchain, TRON’s (TRX) monthly revenue increased by 46.5% — rising from $41.9 million in July to $61.4 million in August. The network is second to Ethereum (ETH) with $62.6 million in revenue in August.
The #TronNetwork’s gas revenue saw a 46.54% increase in August.
Data shows that Ethereum’s revenue plunged 33% from July’s $94 million mark.
Per a crypto.news report, TRON’s daily revenue reached an all-time high of $5.33 million on Aug. 22 after surpassing Ethereum. This happened after the TRON-based meme coin platform SunPump, Pump.fun’s competitor, gained increased attention from investors and traders.
Data from Lookonchain shows that Solana (SOL) secured the third spot with a monthly revenue of $25.6 million. Notably, Solana’s income was almost cut in half in August — falling from $49.8 million.
Bitcoin (BTC) also recorded a 16.8% decrease in its monthly revenue — dropping from $24.9 million in July to $20.7 million in August.
Per Lookonchain’s data, Binance Smart Chain’s monthly revenue increased by 6.6% — growing from $10.5 million in July to $11.2 million last month.
According to data from crypto.news’ price page, TRX is the only token from the list to register a price surge over the past 30 days, marking a 22% rise. BTC and ETH declined by 4.4% and 16% in the past month.
According to a Binance report, blockchain technology is set to transform the global payments landscape by addressing inefficiencies in traditional financial systems.
The Binance research report highlights that while current payment methods, such as Visa and Mastercard, offer the convenience of near-instantaneous payment authorization, actual settlement times often lag, sometimes by several days.
This delay is especially pronounced in cross-border transactions, where communication between banks in different countries can extend settlement times.
In contrast, blockchain-based payments offer near-instant settlement. The report cites a 2021 pilot conducted by Visa and Crypto.com in Australia, where the use of USDC (USDC) and the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain allowed cross-border transactions to be settled in a fraction of the time traditionally required.
Blockchain payments are cheaper than traditional means of payment
The report highlighted some of the cost advantages of blockchain payments. Traditional remittance services charge high fees, particularly in regions like Sub-Saharan Africa, where the average cost of sending money is 7.73%.
Using blockchain for payments is becoming increasingly popular due to its significantly lower costs compared to traditional methods.
By comparison, blockchain networks like Solana (SOL) enable transactions at a fraction of the cost. Sending stablecoins via Solana incurs minimal fees, often amounting to just a fraction of a cent.
Stablecoin popularity
Stablecoins have become essential for blockchain payments, with the market settling over $10.8 trillion in transactions in 2023, according to the report. When excluding automated activities, the figure is $2.3 trillion.
Source: Coinbase, Binance Research, as of August 2024
The stablecoin market has grown steadily, with a combined market cap of over $160 billion, led by Tether (USDT) and USDC, which dominate 73% and 21% of the market, respectively.
Challenges in blockchain infrastructure
The report noted that current blockchain infrastructures have their challenges. Scalability remains a key issue, with even the most advanced blockchains like Solana struggling to match the transaction processing speeds of established payment networks.
Solana, the report reveals, has experienced multiple outages since its launch, raising concerns about the reliability of blockchain technology for large-scale institutional use.
“Since the mainnet launched in 2020, Solana has experienced 7 major outages which brought block production to a halt, with the latest occurring in February 2024. Such growing pain problems would understandably cause institutions to be cautious about relying on blockchains for key business operations, such as payments.”
Binance
Despite these challenges, the report suggests blockchains offer a promising alternative to traditional financial systems. Their transparency and decentralized nature foster greater trust and security in financial institutions, qualities that are increasingly sought after in a global financial system where centralization and control can be exploited for geopolitical purposes.
Looking ahead, the report envisions a future where blockchain technology plays a central role in global payments, particularly remittances. As the technology matures and regulatory frameworks evolve, businesses and consumers may increasingly opt for blockchain-based transactions over traditional methods.
A Bitcoin fee bidding war erupted on Aug. 22 as Babylon debuted phase one of its native BTC staking offering.
Early on Thursday, Aug. 22, the average Bitcoin (BTC) transaction fee was under $1. Closer to noon, users had to pay around $132-$137 to transfer BTC after Babylon’s Bitcoin staking program went live.
Babylon’s BTC staking allows users to earn yield by depositing crypto directly on proof-of-stake (PoS) networks. The idea aims to expand BTC utility beyond the “digital gold” narrative, which typically incentivizes holding the asset rather than using it in more active financial strategies.
Phase one of Babylon’s staking system was a “locking-only phase,” where users quickly filled the maximum allocation within hours.
In BTC’s case, as a proof-of-work (PoW) blockchain, miners validate transactions in exchange for fees. Higher fees can encourage miners to prioritize certain transactions.
The rush to participate in Babylon’s staking platform triggered an on-chain scramble among users, driving competition for miner priority and propelling BTC fees near $140, as confirmed by CryptoQuant analyst J.A. Maartun.
Over 1,000 BTC, worth nearly $61 million, was prepared for phase two after the race to stake assets. More than 12,700 stakers and 20,610 solo delegates queued up to earn rewards by securing PoS chains with BTC.
Staking in decentralized finance (DeFi) is common among PoS chains, allowing crypto holders to generate passive income from their assets. While this practice is native to PoS networks, developers have been exploring ways to extend it to Bitcoin’s ecosystem.
The move effectively broadens BTC’s role in DeFi, at a time when institutional interest in crypto is growing. Wall Street giants like BlackRock and Fidelity were approved to launch spot BTC ETFs in January, and funds from traditional finance and crypto-native wealth managers have since accumulated over $50 billion in assets.
U.S. presidential candidates have mentioned creating a national BTC reserve and institutional ownership continued on the uptrend at press time.
Ethereum layer-2 wallet addresses using Uniswap’s decentralized exchange nearly doubled last month compared to numbers recorded in June.
Dune analytics data showed 8.5 million Ethereum (ETH) addresses trading on Uniswap via L2s like Arbitrum, Base, Optimism, Polygon, and ZKSync, setting a new all-time high. Uniswap is the biggest DEX on any blockchain, generating almost $100 million in fees in June.
ETH layer-2s run atop or adjacent to Ethereum’s mainnet to help the second-largest decentralized network in crypto. Although Vitalik Buterin’s co-created blockchain is known for secure permissionless transactions, on-chain bottlenecks often arise, increasing the cost of sending assets.
L2s were designed to decongest ETH’s primary chain and offer a cheaper pathway to trading on the biggest decentralized finance ecosystem.
Protocols like Base and Polygon already boasted cheaper transaction costs, known as gas fees, than Ethereum. However, the March Dencun upgrade improved this offer.
According to L2Fees, it costs less than $1 to send Ether on layer-2 networks and under $3 to swap digital assets. This affordability is likely a major reason L2 addresses have increased since February, just before developers shipped Dencun.
While this pattern has played out, total user deposits, called total value locked (TVL), have decreased across DeFi chains, including on Ethereum and its L2s.
Per DefiLlama data, up to 25% drops have occured in the last 30 days. Decreasing TVLs echoed market corrections and a broad downswing in altcoin sectors.
