On-chain fees in Q1 2026 decreased by approximately 50% year-on-year, with the DeFi sector showing a significant drag.

CoinFeed reported on April 2nd that, according to 1kx analysis, the on-chain fundamentals in the first quarter of 2026 showed a divergent trend: on-chain fees paid by users decreased by approximately 50% year-on-year and 26% quarter-on-quarter; the value allocated to token holders remained stable, but the number of profitable protocols saw its first slight decline. The changes across different sectors are as follows: the overall decline was mainly driven by the DeFi sector (-34%), with related infrastructure (such as cross-chain bridges) declining by 43%; the perpetual contract sector saw the largest decline (-36%), while stablecoin issuance increased due to the Sky ecosystem; the wallet sector declined by 16%, consumer applications declined by 12%, but the Launchpad sector grew by 10%; DePIN was the only sector to achieve positive growth, increasing by 13%; the blockchain sector declined by 5%, with Zcash rising by 80% and Polygon increasing fourfold.