Crypto founders spent the past several years racing to build blockchains and protocols, trying to control the technical rails and the fees that came with them. The more capital and trading activity a platform could attract, the more money it could make.
TechFlowPost says that equation is starting to change. In a report by Changan I Biteye Content Team, the publication argues that a new business model has emerged as infrastructure has matured: instead of building a full trading stack, some companies are plugging into existing protocols and focusing on product experience and user acquisition. A number of these trading front ends, the report says, are already generating tens of millions of dollars a month, in some cases more than platforms that run their own trading systems. Wallets, trading terminals, and social apps are now competing for the same users.
Meme trading front ends make up the largest group
The report screened for products that connect to third-party trading infrastructure and generated at least $100,000 in revenue over the past 30 days. On that basis, it identified 20 representative crypto trading front ends.
Meme-focused products accounted for the largest share, with seven projects, including GMGN and Axiom. The article says meme trading remains one of crypto’s hottest segments. Token prices and narratives rotate quickly, but the terminals that serve those trades can keep collecting fees.
Perp DEX front ends came next with five projects. According to the report, perpetual futures trading is already a large market, and traders open and close positions frequently, creating recurring fee income. As platforms such as Hyperliquid open up trading capabilities, third-party front ends are also getting a share of that market.
Prediction markets had the smallest presence, with just two projects. The article says third-party front ends in that segment are still fighting for users, with many competing on zero add-on fees or low fee rates. Trading volume may be meaningful, but the revenue that remains with the front end is limited, which is why the category ranked last under the report’s revenue filter.
The remaining six were grouped as broad gateway products. Wallets such as Phantom, MetaMask, and Trust Wallet already control large user bases and asset pools. By adding swap and perps functions, they can turn existing traffic into new fee revenue. Fomo, meanwhile, was presented as a representative of the social trading route, using content and social relationships to drive transactions.
The distribution data was stated as of Oct. 21, 2026, using 30-day revenue.
Six front ends cleared $1 million in 30-day revenue
The report then narrowed the list to six leading front ends that generated more than $1 million over the past 30 days. All of them rely on other protocols to execute trades, but they attract users and monetize in different ways.
- Fomo focuses on social trading, using social content and creators to bring in users and then earning from trading activity.
- Axiom and GMGN are established meme-trading terminals that built up large bases of active traders and monetize through high-frequency activity.
- Phantom, MetaMask, and Trust Wallet are using large wallet user bases to convert existing users into new revenue streams by adding more trading services.
Fomo: social trading built around creators and followers
Fomo was listed with an XHunt ranking of 729. The report describes it as a social trading app aimed at mainstream users, with its main selling point being a lower barrier to on-chain trading. Users do not need to understand different chains, wallets, or gas fees. They can deposit USDC and trade assets across different chains directly.
Fomo also embeds social features into the product. Users can follow other traders’ activity and copy their trades. The article says this changes how crypto creators make money. Instead of relying mainly on advertising and project promotions, KOLs can issue trade calls on Fomo and receive a share of the fees generated by followers’ trades.
In the report’s framing, Fomo makes trading easier for newcomers while giving creators a direct way to turn influence into trading income.
DefiLlama data cited in the report was stated as of Oct. 22, 2026, using 30-day revenue.
Axiom: expanding beyond Solana meme trading
Axiom was listed with an XHunt ranking of 3173. The article describes it as a leading meme-trading terminal in the Solana ecosystem, built around fast order entry and token discovery tools that attracted a large base of active traders.
As competition in meme trading intensified, especially with the rise of newer social trading platforms such as Fomo, Axiom began looking for new growth. The report says its expansion has accelerated over the past two to three months. It launched a new asset management page in August, upgraded BNB Chain trading in September, and expanded into ecosystems including Base and Ink, moving beyond a Solana-only business.
The article says Axiom is no longer content to remain just a meme-trading tool. It is trying to combine market data, social features, and trading in one product and move closer to a super app model.
DefiLlama data cited in the report was stated as of Oct. 22, 2026, using 30-day revenue.
GMGN: shifting from a meme terminal to a broader trading platform
GMGN was listed with an XHunt ranking of 2030. The report says it is one of the meme-trading platforms most familiar to the Chinese crypto community, helped by a Chinese-friendly interface and smart-money tracking tools.
With social trading platforms gaining traction, GMGN has also started to change course. The article says it recently added perpetual futures and launched social features including Callout and trading leaderboards. It also integrated Fomo users’ trade-call records into candlestick charts.
The report adds that founder Haze has been posting recruitment messages frequently to expand the product and community teams. In the article’s telling, GMGN does not want to remain tied to its earlier meme-trading niche and is moving toward a broader trading platform.
DefiLlama data cited in the report was stated as of Oct. 22, 2026, using 30-day revenue.
Phantom: wallet traffic still drives most revenue
Phantom was listed with an XHunt ranking of 174. The article describes Phantom as a breakout wallet from the Solana ecosystem that at one point reached close to 17 million monthly active users and raised funding in 2025 at a $3 billion valuation.
Over the past year, Phantom added Hyperliquid perps, prediction markets, social feeds, and even a payment card, aiming to let users handle trading, social activity, and everyday spending inside one app.
According to DefiLlama data cited in the report, Phantom generated more than $7 million in revenue over the past 30 days. Most of that still came from in-wallet token swaps and cross-chain services, while derivatives trading contributed about $1.2 million.
DefiLlama data cited in the report was stated as of Oct. 22, 2026, using 30-day revenue.
MetaMask: trying to become more than a wallet
MetaMask was listed with an XHunt ranking of 117. The article says MetaMask is one of the oldest wallets in the Ethereum ecosystem and was once close to essential for users going on-chain. But product experience improved only slowly over the years, and some users shifted to other wallets.
Facing that competition, MetaMask has stepped up its transition. The report says it added Hyperliquid perps and the Polymarket prediction market, trying to evolve from a wallet utility into a broader trading platform.
DefiLlama data cited in the article shows MetaMask generated about $3.72 million in revenue over the past 30 days. Traditional wallet trading contributed about $2.23 million, while Hyperliquid perps added about $1.29 million. The report notes that MetaMask once monetized mainly through its early wallet advantage, but now has to compete again for users’ trading demand.
DefiLlama data cited in the report was stated as of Oct. 22, 2026, using 30-day revenue.
Trust Wallet: perps now account for most of the revenue
Trust Wallet was listed with an XHunt ranking of 1338. The article describes it as a wallet that supports multiple cryptocurrencies and allows users not only to store assets, but also to buy and sell tokens, transfer across chains, and trade derivatives.
The report says Trust Wallet recently asked 21 business leads to open X accounts and communicate directly with users, a sign that the team is putting more effort into user growth and community operations.
According to DefiLlama data cited in the article, Trust Wallet generated about $1.93 million in revenue over the past 30 days. Of that, $1.56 million came from Hyperliquid perpetual futures trading, more than 80% of the total. Traditional wallet businesses such as swaps and cross-chain transfers contributed about $370,000.
The article’s conclusion on Trust Wallet is straightforward: where wallet revenue once depended mainly on custody and token exchange activity, derivatives trading now makes up the bulk of the business.
DefiLlama data cited in the report was stated as of Oct. 22, 2026, using 30-day revenue.
Why front ends have become a strategic battleground
The article highlights one detail: Phantom’s trading revenue from Hyperliquid is higher than TradeXYZ’s.
It presents Fomo as a concentrated example of this cycle’s front-end innovation. By combining cross-chain trading, social feeds, and creator revenue sharing, Fomo lets KOLs earn fees through trade calls. That trend has drawn in newer players such as SmartX, while established terminals including GMGN and Axiom have also been adding social features.
What these products are fighting over is not just the fee from a single trade, the report says, but the user’s future trading demand as a whole. One trading entry point can support many businesses. A product may attract users through meme trading today, then add perps, prediction markets, payments, or wealth products later. Each added service creates another chance to monetize the same user base.
Research from Re7 Capital, cited in the article, says third-party front ends’ share of the perpetual futures market rose from under 1% at the start of 2025 to about 20% in August 2026.
That helps explain why wallets, trading terminals, and social platforms all want the same entry point. Wallets control assets, trading terminals build user habits, and social platforms have creators and followers. Their starting points differ, but the goal is similar: keep more trading activity inside their own products.
One account, one balance, more financial functions
The article closes by arguing that crypto spent years building infrastructure to make trading faster and cheaper, yet for many mainstream users, wallets, cross-chain steps, and gas fees still form a barrier to entry.
Trading front ends are now trying to hide that complexity in the background and make the experience feel more like using a standard app. The report says Fomo’s rapid growth shows there is real demand for that simpler experience.
It also cites a 2026 report from Binance Research, which said wallets, trading platforms, and fintech apps are gradually converging toward the same product form: one account and one balance that can handle a growing range of financial actions.
In that view, the next fight for front ends may extend beyond crypto-native traders. As services tied to U.S. stocks, prediction markets, and payments move on-chain, these products could become a unified entry point for managing assets, investing, and spending.
The article ends on that note. Crypto has spent years trying to bring more assets and financial services on-chain. The next question, it says, may be who can make those services easy enough for ordinary users to adopt. Today’s seemingly ordinary trading front ends could be where that shift begins.
