Out of 4,335 protocols listed on DefiLlama:

✦ 161 generate $100K+ in monthly fees (3.71%)

✦ 64 generate $1M+ in fees (1.45%)

✦ 17 generate $10M+ in fees (0.39%)

96.29% of protocols make less than $100K in monthly fees.

An average team of 10 employees, plus operational expenses, costs around $50K per month, not to mention additional marketing budgets.

The conclusion? 9 out of 10 teams rely on subsidies (VCs, token sales) and fail to balance expenses with revenue.

With the decrease in VC capital deployment, if sentiment doesn't shift to alts, many protocols will significantly scale back their efforts in the coming months.

A sobering reality.