Blockchain, crypto & web3
Blockchain, crypto and web3 covers the infrastructure, exchanges, custody, on-chain analytics, stablecoin issuers and consumer apps built on public and permissioned ledgers. Total crypto market cap moved between $2.5T and $3.8T through 2024-25 as US spot bitcoin and ether ETFs went live and Coinbase joined the S&P 500 in May 2025. Institutional flows, the MiCA regime in Europe and the US GENIUS Act on stablecoins reshaped the addressable market for regulated venues, custodians and tokenisation platforms.
The sector spans crypto exchanges and brokerages, custody and prime services, stablecoin issuance, layer-1 and layer-2 infrastructure, on-chain analytics and compliance, tokenisation of real-world assets, DeFi protocols, and wallet and consumer apps.
Revenue comes from trading commissions and spreads, custody and staking fees on assets under custody, float income earned on stablecoin reserves, transaction fees on layer-1 and layer-2 networks, SaaS contracts for compliance and analytics tooling, and token-based monetisation for protocol operators.
Blockchain, crypto & web3 is part of Fintech.
$31B
Global market size
94
Public companies
Key VC investors
Key strategic buyers
How Blockchain, crypto & web3 companies monetize?
Blockchain, crypto and web3 companies monetize through trading commissions, stablecoin float income and custody and staking fees.
Trading commissions & spreads
Take rate on spot and derivatives flow. The core P&L line for Coinbase, Kraken, Binance and Bitstamp; highly cyclical with crypto prices and retail engagement.
Custody & staking fees
Basis-point fees on assets under custody plus a share of staking rewards on proof-of-stake networks. The most predictable revenue line for regulated custodians.
Stablecoin float income
Issuers like Circle, Tether and PayPal earn yield on the T-bill and cash reserves backing their stablecoins. With $250B+ in circulating supply at 4-5% rates, this is the most profitable line in crypto.
Network transaction fees
Gas and sequencer fees paid to layer-1 and layer-2 operators. Accrues to validators, stakers and token holders rather than a traditional corporate P&L.
Compliance & analytics SaaS
Annual contracts for on-chain analytics, AML and sanctions screening. Sold to banks, exchanges, fintechs and government agencies; Chainalysis and TRM Labs anchor the category.
Tokenisation & RWA platform fees
Issuance, transfer agent and structuring fees on tokenised funds, treasuries and private credit. The fastest-growing institutional line; BlackRock BUIDL, Ondo Finance and Securitize lead.
Blockchain, crypto & web3 valuations in May 2026
Public Blockchain, crypto & web3 comps trade at 6.5x EV/Revenue. Median revenue multiple across Blockchain, crypto & web3 M&A deals was 3.9x in the last 12 months. Median revenue multiple across Blockchain, crypto & web3 VC rounds was 10x in the last 12 months.
6.5x
Median EV/Revenue as of May 2026 for public Blockchain, crypto & web3 companies
n/m
Strategy is the highest valued public Blockchain, crypto & web3 company based on EV/Revenue (excluding outliers)
3.9x
Median EV/Revenue across Blockchain, crypto & web3 M&A deals in the last 12 months
10x
Median EV/Revenue across Blockchain, crypto & web3 VC rounds in the last 12 months
Blockchain, crypto & web3 market segments
Blockchain, crypto and web3 spans crypto exchanges, stablecoin issuers and layer-1 and layer-2 infrastructure.
Crypto exchanges & brokerages
Regulated and offshore venues for spot and derivatives trading. Coinbase dominates the US listed market; Binance is the largest global venue; Kraken, Bitstamp and Gemini round out the regulated tier.
Custody & prime services
Qualified custody, prime brokerage and staking for institutional holders. Coinbase Custody, Anchorage Digital, BitGo and Fidelity Digital Assets carry the largest institutional balances.
Stablecoin issuers
Dollar and euro stablecoin issuers earning float income on reserves. Tether ($150B+ USDT in circulation) and Circle ($60B+ USDC, NYSE: CRCL after the 2025 IPO) anchor the market; PayPal PYUSD and Société Générale's EURCV target specific corridors.
Layer-1 & layer-2 infrastructure
Underlying chains and scaling networks. Ethereum is the institutional default; Solana leads on payments and consumer apps; Coinbase's Base and Arbitrum dominate layer-2 settlement volume.
On-chain analytics & compliance
Transaction monitoring, sanctions screening and investigations software sold to banks, exchanges and law enforcement. Chainalysis and TRM Labs are the scale players; Elliptic and Crystal compete in Europe.
Tokenisation & real-world assets
Platforms issuing on-chain versions of money market funds, treasuries, private credit and equities. BlackRock BUIDL crossed $2B in AUM in early 2025; Ondo Finance, Securitize and Backed are the venture-backed names.
DeFi protocols
Permissionless lending, trading and yield protocols. Uniswap leads on-chain spot DEX volume; Aave and Compound anchor lending; the category remains capital-efficient but token-funded rather than P&L-funded.
Wallets & consumer apps
Self-custody wallets, account abstraction layers and crypto-native consumer apps. MetaMask (Consensys) and Phantom dominate retail self-custody; Trust Wallet, Rabby and Coinbase Wallet compete on multi-chain experience.
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Key Blockchain, crypto & web3 KPIs to track
Trading volume, assets on platform, stablecoin circulating supply and adjusted EBITDA are the metrics investors track in blockchain, crypto and web3.
| KPI | Definition |
|---|---|
| Trading volume | Total notional traded on the platform. The headline scale metric for exchanges; reported monthly by Coinbase, CME crypto and Binance. |
| Take rate | Net revenue divided by trading volume. Retail-tilted venues (Coinbase consumer) run 100-200bps; institutional venues run 2-10bps. |
| Assets on platform | Customer crypto held in custody. The closest analogue to AUM at a broker; reported quarterly by Coinbase and the regulated custodians. |
| Stablecoin circulating supply | Total face value of issued stablecoins. Drives float income at Circle and Tether; published daily on-chain. |
| Monthly transacting users | Unique users transacting on the platform in a month. Reads consumer engagement; Coinbase reports MTUs as a primary disclosure. |
| Gross margin | Pure infrastructure and SaaS plays run at 75-85%; exchanges sit at 80%+ when active; consumer brokerages drop materially in down cycles. |
| Adjusted EBITDA | The cleanest profitability read given token-related accounting noise. Used by Coinbase, Galaxy Digital and the larger miners. |
| Total value locked (TVL) | Capital deposited in DeFi protocols. The DeFi equivalent of AUM; sourced from on-chain data via DefiLlama. |
Main Blockchain, crypto & web3 players globally
The most active blockchain, crypto and web3 companies and category leaders globally.
| Company | HQ | Overview |
|---|---|---|
Coinbase coinbase.com |  Remote-first | Largest US-listed crypto exchange (NASDAQ: COIN). Joined the S&P 500 in May 2025 and operates Base, the largest Ethereum layer-2 by activity. Custody and stablecoin distribution (revenue share on USDC) carry an increasing share of the P&L. |
Binance binance.com |  Dubai | Largest global crypto exchange by spot and derivatives volume. Settled a $4.3B US enforcement action in late 2023; CZ stepped down as CEO and Richard Teng now runs the business. |
Kraken kraken.com | San Francisco | US-regulated exchange. Filed confidentially for an IPO in early 2026 at a reported $20B+ target valuation. Acquired NinjaTrader in March 2025 to expand into US equities and futures. |
Circle circle.com | New York | Issuer of USDC, the second-largest dollar stablecoin. Listed on NYSE as CRCL via the June 2025 IPO at an $8B valuation; revenue is the yield on T-bill reserves backing the float. |
Tether tether.io |  San Salvador | Issuer of USDT, by far the largest dollar stablecoin at $150B+ in circulation. Privately held; reported $13B in 2024 profit from reserve yield. |
Chainalysis chainalysis.com | New York | Largest blockchain analytics vendor. Sells to exchanges, banks and government agencies (including the IRS and FBI). Reported $190M+ ARR; last valued at $8.6B in 2022. |
Ripple ripple.com | San Francisco | Cross-border payments and XRP ledger operator. Closed its multi-year SEC dispute in 2024 with a $125M penalty; acquired Hidden Road (prime broker) for $1.25B in April 2025. |
Consensys consensys.io | New York | Ethereum infrastructure company. Operates MetaMask (largest self-custody wallet) and Infura (RPC infrastructure); cut staff roughly 20% in 2024 while preparing IPO optionality. |
Anchorage Digital anchorage.com | San Francisco | First federally chartered crypto bank (OCC, 2021). Provides custody, staking and settlement for institutional clients; selected by BlackRock as one of the custodians for BUIDL. |
Securitize securitize.io | Miami | Tokenisation platform and SEC-registered transfer agent. Issues BlackRock's BUIDL fund; raised $47M led by BlackRock in May 2024. |
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Key Blockchain, crypto & web3 market trends
US spot ETFs, MiCA in force across the EU and tokenised treasuries scaling are reshaping blockchain, crypto and web3 right now.
US spot ETFs and the institutional bid
Bitcoin spot ETFs cleared $100B in cumulative AUM within 18 months of launch in January 2024; ether ETFs followed in July 2024. BlackRock IBIT became the fastest-growing ETF in history and reshaped the institutional buy-side for crypto.
MiCA in force across the EU
MiCA's stablecoin rules went live in mid-2024 and the full regime applied from December 2024. Coinbase, Kraken and Bitstamp secured CASP licences via Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands; smaller venues exited the EU or restructured.
Stablecoin regulation in the US
The GENIUS Act passed Congress in late 2025 and created a federal licensing regime for payment stablecoin issuers. Circle and PayPal aligned products to the framework; Tether's USDT remains primarily offshore but has launched a US-compliant variant.
Tokenised treasuries scaling
BlackRock BUIDL crossed $2B in AUM in early 2025 and Franklin Templeton FOBXX, Ondo USDY and Hashnote USYC scaled into the billions. Tokenised money market funds replaced stablecoins as the preferred on-chain cash leg for institutional users.
Coinbase joins the S&P 500
Coinbase entered the S&P 500 in May 2025, the first crypto-native company to do so. The inclusion forced passive flows into the name and shifted equity narratives across the regulated exchange tier (Kraken, Gemini and Bitstamp).
Prime-broker consolidation
Ripple's $1.25B acquisition of Hidden Road in April 2025 and Robinhood's $200M purchase of Bitstamp in mid-2025 cemented the move toward integrated prime services. Galaxy Digital, FalconX and BitGo continue to consolidate the institutional brokerage layer.
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