Public Companies Now Capture 16% of Blockchain Revenue

Publicly traded companies accounted for 16% of blockchain industry revenue in 2026, more than double their 7% share in 2022, according to a new report from crypto investment firm 1kx.

That gain came as the wider market contracts. 1kx projects overall blockchain revenue will decline 28% year over year to roughly $100 billion in 2026. Its analysis draws on data from more than 2,600 protocols and earnings reports from 104 publicly traded companies through the third quarter.

The revenue mix shifted

Circle, the stablecoin issuer that went public in 2025, is one of the clearest examples of that shift. 1kx attributes public companies’ growing share partly to new stock market listings and revenue growth among existing public companies.

The 10 largest publicly traded companies in the study doubled their blockchain-related revenue over the past three years, according to 1kx’s report. Their gains were not evenly spread:

• Coinbase and Circle generated approximately $3.3 billion in combined blockchain-related revenue in the first half of 2026.
• Publicly traded Bitcoin miners earned roughly $2 billion.
• Traditional financial firms, including JPMorgan, BlackRock, CME Group, Visa and Robinhood, accounted for another $1.1 billion collectively.

Revenue remains concentrated at the top. The six largest public companies accounted for roughly 50% to 60% of the study group’s revenue, according to the report.

Real-world uses passed infrastructure

Revenue from broader economic activity surpassed blockchain infrastructure revenue for the first time in the third quarter, according to 1kx. It reached approximately $5.3 billion, compared with $5.1 billion for infrastructure.

The broader category includes tokenized assets, payments and prediction markets, and its revenue grew 58% year over year in the first half of 2026. Together with institutional adoption, it accounted for 33% of total blockchain revenue in the third quarter.

1kx projects institutional adoption and broader economic activity will represent 30% of blockchain revenue for full-year 2026. That puts real-world applications beside institutional adoption as central drivers of the year’s revenue.

External data offer a parallel signal. RWA.xyz data show the value of distributed tokenized real-world assets rose roughly 51% over the past year, from $26.16 billion in October 2025 to $39.54 billion as of Thursday. Tokenized equities grew faster, surging 471% over the same period to $3.77 billion.

What does this change for public companies?

For investors and corporate operators, the main change is the source of blockchain-linked revenue. The report’s fastest-growing category includes tokenized assets, payments and prediction markets. Infrastructure still produced $5.1 billion in the third quarter, but broader economic activity produced $5.3 billion.

Higher public-company exposure does not mean the underlying industry is expanding. A 16% share of a market projected at roughly $100 billion comes after a 28% annual decline in total blockchain revenue. The revenue mix is shifting toward listed operators even as the total market contracts.

The concentration also limits how far the trend can be generalized. The six largest companies command roughly 50% to 60% of the public-company group’s revenue, so the report reflects a handful of scaled operators rather than broad adoption across all listed businesses.

Still, the operating mix is changing. The listed roster now includes Coinbase, stablecoin issuer Circle, public Bitcoin miners and major traditional financial firms. That mix makes blockchain-linked earnings broader than crypto trading alone, while the concentration leaves investors exposed to a small group of large operators.

The key watchpoint is full-year 2026. If institutional adoption and broader economic activity reach the projected 30% share, the market’s center of gravity will have shifted further from infrastructure toward real-world transactions and tokenized assets.