Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood endorsed on Monday a detailed analysis by her colleague on where value is actually being captured in the cryptocurrency market.
Getting Close to the End User
Lorenzo Valiente, Director of Research at Ark, examined 2025 global cryptocurrency revenue pools and concluded that off-chain and centralized companies are capturing far more value than on-chain protocols and Layer 1 chains.
Findings revealed that off-chain companies, including exchanges, brokers and stablecoin issuers, generated roughly $70 billion in 2025, 8.5x more than on-chain protocols and L1s.
Lorenzo noted that centralized players sit closer to end users by abstracting away cryptocurrency’s complexities—custody, trading, and staking—and monetize that relationship effectively.
“On-chain is clearly in a bear market, but the lesson for protocols, L1s, and on-chain primitives is to build and verticalize more. Get closer to the end user,” he added.





