Cryptoupdated 43m ago2 min read
1kx Projects Blockchain Revenue Drops 28% in 2026 to About $100 Billion
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Publicly traded companies account for 16% of blockchain industry revenue in 2026. Total blockchain revenue projected to drop 28% year-over-year to about $100 billion in 2026.
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Revenue shrinks, public firms gain
Crypto investment firm 1kx projected that blockchain-related revenue would drop 28% year over year to about $100 billion in 2026, even as publicly traded companies took a larger slice of the industry. 1kx said publicly traded companies accounted for 16% of blockchain industry revenue in 2026, up from 7% in 2022, and the report attributed part of the shift to the sector's growing presence in public markets, including new listings. 1kx reported that Coinbase and Circle together generated roughly $3.3 billion in blockchain-related revenue in the first half of 2026, while publicly traded Bitcoin miners earned about $2 billion.
1kx also said traditional financial and consumer-facing firms including JPMorgan, BlackRock, CME Group, Visa and Robinhood contributed $1.1 billion combined. 1kx linked the broader mix shift to revenue growth at established participants, noting that the ten largest listed companies in the sample doubled their blockchain-related revenue over the past three years.
Tokenization overtakes infrastructure
1kx found that revenue from broader economic activity edged past infrastructure revenue for the first time in the third quarter, reaching about $5.3 billion versus $5.1 billion. 1kx said the broader category, which covers tokenized assets, payments and prediction markets, grew 58% year over year in the first half of 2026 and represented 33% of total blockchain revenue in the third quarter. 1kx projected that the combined share of institutional adoption and broader economic activity would reach 30% for the full year.
RWA.xyz data in the same reporting showed the value of distributed tokenized real-world assets climbed about 51% over the past year, from $26.16 billion in October 2025 to $39.54 billion as of Thursday. 1kx also pointed to tokenized equities expanding 471% to $3.77 billion, as the report described a shift in where money is being made.
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1kx framed the market as contracting at the top line while reallocating toward applications that resemble mainstream capital markets, with a smaller total for blockchain revenue not necessarily signaling fading relevance for every use case. 1kx said spending appeared to be shifting toward tokenization, payments and prediction activity, where institutional participants can plug into existing financial rails. 1kx projected that broader economic activity and institutional adoption together account for 30% of projected 2026 revenue, while the category made up 22% of third-quarter revenue and edged past blockchain infrastructure at 21% for the first time.
1kx’s report also described a definition of blockchain revenue that includes more than fees paid directly on-chain, covering off-chain exchange fees, public-company revenue, stablecoin reserve income, and mining and staking rewards. 1kx’s head of economics, Robert Koschig, said, "We've seen a shift towards fundamentals," as the report’s estimate drew on data from 2,621 protocols and earnings reports from 104 public companies.