Methodology

How I look at tokens

The same questions sit behind every piece: what does a protocol actually earn, what is the market paying for it, and how much of that value reaches the token holder. This page explains how the numbers are built.

Revenue, not fees

Revenue is what a protocol keeps after paying users, liquidity providers or depositors. Fees are everything users pay. I use DefiLlama revenue and say so when a number is fees instead, because the two can differ by a factor of ten, as with USD.AI, where about 90% of fees go to depositors.

Holder revenue

Holder revenue is the part that actually reaches the token, through buybacks, burns or direct payouts. A protocol can have strong revenue and zero holder revenue. Most of my value accrual work is about the gap between the two.

Market cap and FDV

Since November 2026 the revenue multiples series ranks by market cap over annualized revenue and shows FDV alongside. Market cap reflects what trades today; FDV shows how much supply is still to come, which matters for tokens with large unlocks.

Annualized 30-day revenue

Multiples use the last 30 days of revenue times 365/30. That reacts quickly to new trends, but it is noisy, so I compare it with the 12-month average (revenue momentum) and point out one-off spikes.

Robinhood Chain numbers

For apps that run on several chains, only the Robinhood Chain share counts. Protocols with several modules are combined into one parent. Sequencer revenue is shown separately, after L1 costs and the Arbitrum share, and differs from the chain revenue Robinhood reports.

Data checks before every post

Before posting I check whether a protocol’s data starts inside the measured window, whether a single day makes up more than 25% of the period, and whether a new module was added mid-period. Numbers are pulled again right before posting, and every chart carries its data date.

Sources

DefiLlama for revenue and fees, CoinGecko for market cap and FDV, the Hyperliquid API for open interest and volume, plus governance forums, protocol docs and company reports. Every post names its sources and data date.

Snapshots, not live data

Each research piece is a dated snapshot and is not updated afterwards. What changed later goes into “Updates since publication” on the piece and into the track record. Method changes in a series are noted in the edition where they happen.