According to a recent analytical report by venture capital firm 1kx, published in early November 2026.
Main causes and context:
Dependence on trading activity: Non-custodial wallet creators earn primarily not from subscriptions, but from built-in DeFi services. These include fees for quickly swapping tokens within the app, staking integrations, cross-chain bridges, and fiat on-ramps and off-ramps. When retail traders become less active due to market volatility, wallet revenues automatically decline.
Overall decline in the consumer Web3 sector: Revenue fell not only for wallets. For example, the decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN) sector lost 10%, declining to $264 million. The entire consumer crypto segment fell by 11% — from $5.6 billion to $5 billion.
Who saved the market from a total collapse: The only thing that kept the industry's overall figures from plunging even further was explosive revenue growth in Web3 gaming and crypto casinos (Gambling)
This sector grew by 8%, earning $3.3 billion, and now accounts for the lion's share of revenue across the entire consumer crypto market.
Analysts emphasize that growth in the number of active wallets on blockchains alone (for example, the Ethereum network recorded a record 207 million non-zero addresses in the fall) no longer guarantees financial success for companies. The wallet industry will have to rethink its business models, as relying directly on transaction fees makes it too vulnerable during periods of market stagnation.
