PumpFun layoffs, Aave reorganizes: DeFi accelerates integration, head apps account for 80% of revenu

The income pie on the chain is becoming highly centralized

The concentration of the income pie on the chain is reaching dangerous levels. Today, most of the fee revenue in Ethereum and its second-tier network ecosystem is concentrated in a few applications. This pressure has begun to reshape project coffers and team structures. This is not just a matter of market cycles, the data points to a structural turning point that separates agreements that stand the test from projects that expand too quickly.

Lorenzo Valente, a researcher at ARK Invest, captured this trend in a report: Hyperliquid and PumpFun apps accounted for 67% of total app revenue, and with Ethena, the top three projects accounted for nearly 80%. This dominance makes it almost impossible for small teams to survive. The revenue crunch is now reflected in recruitment, chain selection and product strategy.

Income concentration reaches new extreme

Valente believes that this concentration is faster than in previous bear markets. Money is flowing to teams that have proven the product's market fit, while teams that have not proven are closing, filing for bankruptcy or being acquired. On-the-chain application layer, infrastructure providers, and even the first-tier network, revenue is clustered around a few clear winners. For traders and liquidity providers, this shift means deeper trading on the dominant platform, but thinner in other markets-a change that brings hidden concentration risks.

This pattern echoes trends implied by blockchain developer activity data. Although hundreds of chains are vying for attention, most of the meaningful construction is still concentrated on a few networks. When teams are forced to downsize, they naturally tend to fall back into the ecosystem where users and mobility already exist.

PumpFun slims down before PUMP is unlocked

PumpFun, the Meme coin launch pad on Solana, has become one of the highest-paying apps in the cryptocurrency space, but the company is laying off employees significantly. The company made layoffs in early April, about two months before the first batch of PUMP tokens were unlocked. At least one former employee allegedly lost more than $1 million in tokens (at current prices) as a result. Co-founder Noah Tweedale told employees that the company was "expanding too fast." Former employees said another round of layoffs took place in mid-July, with more than 40 people laid off in two months.

The timing is delicate. An unlock would increase selling pressure and potentially shake token prices, and layoffs before this event seem more like a way to manage dilution costs than simple operational adjustments. For a platform that makes huge revenue from transaction fees, this image is worrying. The market will focus on whether smaller teams can keep up with Solana's still-enthusiastic Meme coin activity while maintaining runtime and user trust.

Aave streamlined operations, betting on institutional business

Aave took a different path, but with the same theme: focus on what works and leave the rest behind. Founder Stani Kulechov confirmed that the agreement will phase out 50 low-utilization asset reserves and phase out deployments on Sonic, Scroll, zkSync, Metis, Soneium and Aptos. These changes involved approximately $98.1 million in deposits and $15.6 million in liabilities. Kulechov described the moves as removing economic and technical drags rather than judging a particular tier-or second-layer network.

At the same time, Aave is investing more in institutional functions. The agreement acquires Zapper's entire engineering team and prepares the launch of Aave Pro. The idea is to package the composability that retail users already enjoy with the risk control and interfaces required by compliance capital. This shift coincides with a broader trend of tokenization, where on-chain versions of real-world assets are becoming a serious institutional business.

Uniswap and 1inch launch new infrastructure

Even as some projects shrink, the head platform is expanding its influence. Uniswap has launched "Launches", a beta aggregator tab in its web application to showcase a token launch platform built on Uniswap's infrastructure. The feature was first launched on Robinhood Chain, a network choice that suggests Uniswap wants to capture transaction volume from a retail-friendly environment. In addition, Uniswap has partnered with Morpho to provide an unmanaged revenue product that allows users to deposit USDC, USDT and ETH into a pool of funds managed by Gauntlet.

1inch has also joined the ranks of infrastructure construction, opening its shared mobility layer Aqua to all users. The design allows traders to trade between multiple trading pairs using a single wallet balance without having to pre-deposit assets, which only move when the transaction is executed. Aqua currently covers 13 EVM chains and includes protections against JIT fees.

The launch of these new features reveals an unnoticed fact: despite the concentration of revenue, competition to become the default execution layer for on-chain activities is intensifying. Uniswap and 1inch are betting that better aggregation capabilities will keep traders within their ecosystem, even as underlying liquidity is dispersed.

M & A and Outlook under the Trend of Concentration

This centralization narrative is also reflected in Ondo Finance's exploration of US$250 million to US$500 million acquisitions in the wealth technology sector, a move that will expand its tokenized treasury bond business. At the same time, Nansen's CEO pointed out that AI trading agents could surpass the number of human traders within two years. This automation could further tilt revenue towards agreements built for capital flows between machines.

What is unclear is whether this centralization will trigger a backlash from users who have lost deployed networks or value options. Aave's retreat from certain chains is intended to be low-key, but the risk is that smaller ecosystems will interpret it as a signal that it is "not worth building on it." Similarly, PumpFun's layoffs raise questions: How leaner can a team become before operational risks rise? The coming months will test whether these shrinking projects are adjusting engines or losing power.