Blockchain network revenues experienced a significant downturn in September, declining by 16% across most ecosystems, according to a recent report by asset manager VanEck. This contraction is primarily attributed to reduced volatility in the cryptocurrency market.
The report highlights that decreased volatility in major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Solana (SOL) has led to fewer arbitrage opportunities, reducing the incentives for traders to pay high priority fees. Specifically, the volatility declines were 26% for BTC, 40% for ETH and 16% for SOL.
Ethereum's revenue saw a decrease of 6%, while Solana's experienced an 11% decline. Tron's revenue experienced the most significant drop among major networks, plummeting by 37%. Besides reduced crypto market volatility, Tron's sharp drop can be attributed to on-chain governance Proposal #104, which more than halved transaction fees.
Despite the overall decline in blockchain revenues, the performance of alt-tokens presented a mixed picture. The MarketVector Smart Contract Leaders Index (MVSCLE) remained flat. Stablecoins once again became a focal point, with Plasma's (XPL) $10 billion chain launch, including a substantial $1.25 billion+ airdrop to users and Binance's BNB token stakers. The emergence of Binance's Perps exchange, Aster, contributed to BNB's outperformance, with a 16% increase during the month.
On-chain, spot crypto decentralized exchange (DEX) volumes remained roughly the same as in August, at approximately $365 billion. However, the trading volume of perpetual futures (perps) on DEXes saw a 30% increase, almost entirely due to trading activity on BNB's Aster. Excluding the surge in "farming" volumes on Aster, perp volumes would have decreased by 15% month-over-month.
Bitcoin miners also experienced a slump in September, with revenues shrinking by 4.23%, a $69 million decrease compared to August, landing at $1.564 billion. The majority of this revenue, $1.550 billion, came from block rewards, while $14 million was generated from on-chain fees. In August, Bitcoin miners earned $1.633 billion, including $13 million from transfer fees.
Riot Platforms, Inc. reported its September 2025 Bitcoin production and operations update, noting an 8% year-over-year increase in Bitcoin production compared to September 2024, with 445 Bitcoins produced. The company's Bitcoin holdings reached 19,287. However, there was a 7% decrease in Bitcoin production compared to the previous month. Riot's net proceeds from Bitcoin sales in September totaled $52.6 million, a 2% decrease from August 2025.
