ARK Invest: Centralized crypto firms earn 8.5x more than onchain services

ARK Invest crypto research director Lorenzo Valente said centralized companies in the crypto industry generate about 8.5 times more annual revenue than the onchain sector, including layer-1s, layer-2s and apps. In a post on X, Valente estimated 2025 onchain revenue at about $8 billion, compared with about $70 billion for centralized companies. Valente said centralized firms monetize direct user relationships by handling the complexity tied to crypto use, including trading, staking, custody and asset management. Valente added onchain companies should expand beyond providing underlying technology and move into user-facing services. Valente said revenue figures for privately held companies including Binance and Tether were estimated to a significant extent because public data is unavailable, and put total revenue for centralized companies in a range of about $60 billion to $100 billion.