Arbitrum Protocols Generate $5.5M in Revenue Despite Slight Monthly Decline
4 min read
Even as the revenue dips slightly, the community is as vibrant as ever—building, exploring, and using the protocols on the network. The protocols on the network are breaking down revenue in a very diversified way, which is a healthy sign of not having very correlated risks. In fact, many of the protocols that are most correlated to the current market performance—like yield-bearing platforms (which are basically DEXs (decentralized exchanges) that allow you to earn yield)—are performing pretty well overall. And the overall health metric—revenue—is looking pretty good as we hit that half-a-year milestone. May’s Deep Dive revenue breakdown offers a glimpse into how DeFi is developing in Arbitrum’s ecosystem. The slide above shows that while DeFi is currently very concentrated among a handful of leading protocols, there’s a lot of exciting experimentation and emerging niche use cases that could make Arbitrum’s DeFi landscape much more diverse in the not-too-distant future. Derivatives Continue to Dominate, GMX Maintains Top Spot The derivatives sector remains Arbitrum’s golden goose, raking in $3.18 million in total revenue for May. GMX leads the way, gushing forth $1.83 million of that (making up, like, more than half of all derivative-related revenue) and showcasing, once again, the shocking dominance of this relatively young protocol. Yet, the race is changing. Gains Network reported $603,000 in revenue for the month, affirming its hold as the second-biggest derivatives platform on Arbitrum. Just behind, Ostium Labs saw a remarkable $530,000 come through, a number that put it ahead of some erstwhile stronger competitors like HMX and Vertex Protocol. HMX did $147,000, while Vertex tumbled to just $37,000 in monthly revenue—indicating of course a loss of market share. These changes indicate that, although the derivatives sector continues to be solid, the people who take part in the market are starting to look at different platforms that provide them with unique features or better fees. Yield Protocols See Steady Inflows, Led by Penpie In May, protocols that generate yield on Arbitrum took in a collective $781,000. Penpie was the standout performer, bringing in $497,000, and it seemed to grab the most user interest in this part of the ecosystem. Penpie’s strategies focus on veTokens and on liquidity incentives, and those have made it a place that is seemingly much more sustainable than a lot of the other mechanisms we looked at. Behind them were more established platforms like Beefy Finance, which pulled in $109,000 related to revenue earned via yield, followed by Pendle Finance with $89,000 and Toros Finance with $85,000. While these numbers are smaller in comparison to Penpie’s, they reflect that users are allocating capital across a multitude of platforms, seemingly in accordance with their own risk profiles and the yield offerings of each. Last month, @arbitrum protocols generated $5.5M in revenue (-6.54% MoM). Derivative: $3.18m Yield: $781k DEX: $599k Wallet: $421k Lending: $251k Follow along for a breakdown of the top protocols across each of the three leading sectors in May pic.twitter.com/Atlt25y9Kg — Entropy Advisors (@EntropyAdvisors) June 10, 2025 Yield sources are still competitive, with no single player achieving a monopoly, as evidenced by the very many sources of yield that are out there. Indeed, Penpie’s strong showing suggests a growing demand for platforms that let users easily optimize for yield–and do so with a reasonable amount of automation. DEX Activity Holds Firm, Uniswap Remains on Top Last month, Arbitrum’s decentralized exchange sector made $599,000, with Uniswap once more in the lead. The protocol pulled in $223,000 and confirmed its place as the majority go-to DEX for Arbitrum users. Nonetheless, other platforms are making progress. Mayan Finance reaped a big return, $109,000, and is now seen as a real player. Camelot DEX was very close behind $88,000. Ramses Exchange and WOOFi make up the last two spots with respectable haulings of $35,000 and $26,000. Arbitrum’s landscape of decentralized exchanges (DEXs) seems to be becoming more varied, with several platforms developing distinct liquidity models and incentives to set themselves apart from existing players. Though Uniswap remains the clear front-runner on Arbitrum, the emergence of newer DEXs suggests a more competitive future in which trading and liquidity are spread across an ever-increasing number of DEXs. Outlook: Sector Fragmentation, New Entrants Reshape Revenue Dynamics Arbitrum’s DeFi network is one of the most vibrant and profitable spaces in Layer 2. Although it generated slightly less revenue in May compared to previous months, the ecosystem’s protocols seem to be more dynamic than ever. Whether it’s derivatives or yield farming, every sector in decentralized finance (DeFi) is witnessing reinvigorated user interest as new innovations emerge. As Ostium and Penpie rise in the DeFi rankings, and as Mayan and other decentralized exchanges (DEXs) push toward becoming mainstream, the Arbitrum protocol is becoming a veritable laboratory for DeFi capital experimentation and growth—even if it doesn’t seem that way all the time. Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services. 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Source: NullTx