Crypto income: Hyperliquid and Pump.fun dominate CoinGecko rankings in 2026

Hyperliquid retains first place in the CoinGecko crypto revenue rankings, with $429 million generated from January 1 to September 15, 2026. Pump.fun remains second. Over the first 8 months of the year, bitcoin lost nearly 40%, but traders continued to pay their fees.

Hyperliquid and Pump.fun, the same leading duo as in 2025

CoinGecko's ranking measures revenue generated by crypto projects from January 1 to September 15, 2026.

Hyperliquid comes first with $429.04 million, ahead of Pump.fun. Between them, they captured 22.10% of the $3.40 billion generated by all the projects studied by CoinGecko.

This duo already occupied the top of CoinGecko's 2025 ranking, where only Tether and Circle were ahead of Hyperliquid, then Pump.fun. The two main issuers of stablecoins are excluded from the 2026 edition due to their size.

Hyperliquid derives nearly 97% of its revenue from perpetual contracts, and Axiom Pro, 3rd, routes its users' perpetual orders through Hyperliquid.

According to its documentation, Hyperliquid pays its fees to the community, and the majority is used to buy back and then destroy HYPE. Pump.fun cashes in on the creation and trading of memecoins.

Each bar in the graph corresponds to a service that users pay for: trading, launching a token, borrowing, betting on the outcome of an event.

Tether, outside the chart, weighs more than the entire ranking

Two names are missing above Hyperliquid: Tether and Circle. CoinGecko ruled them out because their size would crush the spreads between other projects. Their income comes from interest on their reserves.

Tether generated $4.16 billion over the period, more than the $3.40 billion accumulated by all the projects studied by CoinGecko. Circle generated 1.60 billion.

Grayscale is also missing. The manager would have taken 3rd place with $154.14 million. CoinGecko removed it from the ranking, its income coming from commissions calculated on the assets it manages.

A return that does not depend on the price

Ranking leaders are cashing in because users are paying for an identifiable service, including during a 40% drop in bitcoin.

In DeFi, user activity also remunerates those who provide the capital. Borrowers pay interest to lenders, traders pay fees to liquidity providers.

With its stablecoins, an individual can place itself on the side of lenders and liquidity providers. He can thus benefit from a share of market activity without exposing his savings to market variations.

Identifying these opportunities, understanding which activity pays for their performance and what can interrupt it requires analytical work that the 25% Club documents for its members.

The 25% Club is a private club of more than 150 investors who manage their stablecoin savings via DeFi, with a goal of 15 to 25% per year, without directional exposure, by devoting a few hours per quarter.

How it works in practice:

A public portfolio of $100,000 monitored in real time: all decisions are documented and explained.

DeFi opportunities analyzed: you follow step-by-step video guides to invest in selected protocols.

Control of your funds: you remain in control of your capital, no third party has access to your wallet.

For the second year in a row, the top two in the ranking live off the fees their users pay to trade and launch tokens.