The REV metric, or Real Economic Value, is revolutionizing the way revenue is measured on blockchain by including not only base transaction fees, but also tips tied to the MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) phenomenon.
Introduced in 2024 by Blockworks Research, REV offers a more complete and accurate view of the economic value generated by a blockchain network, especially on Solana, where these tips have grown to represent more than 56% of total revenue in less than a year.
This innovation redefines blockchain economics by recognizing that MEV, previously considered a negative externality, is actually a legitimate source of revenue that reflects the true demand for block spaceAt Solana, REV aggregates base fees, priority fees, and Jito tips, capturing the total value associated with transaction execution.
BUY SOLANA ON BIT2MEBut REV's impact goes beyond traditional accounting, as it can alter the valuation of Layer 1 (L1) blockchains and offer a new perspective on their true economic potential. Therefore, this metric opens a debate about how networks must balance value extraction and sustainability to maintain their relevance in the crypto ecosystem.
Origin of the concept of 'Real Economic Value' (REV)
REV, or Real Economic Value, is a metric introduced in 2024 by the Blockworks Research team of analysts to provide a more comprehensive and accurate assessment of the revenue generated by a blockchain. The concept was born to address a limitation of traditional metrics, which only consider basic transaction fees, overlooking other significant sources of revenue within the ecosystem, such as validator-specific tips that reflect the true economic demand for block space.
This metric innovatively integrates MEV, a phenomenon that consists of the maximum value that a validator or miner can extract by reordering, including, or excluding transactions within a block. The term MEV, originally Miner Extractable Value, evolved with technological advances and has become Maximal Extractable Value to better reflect its nature and scope. MEV can take both negative forms, such as hacking attacks. front-running that are detrimental to users, as well as positive ones, such as arbitrage that improves market efficiency.
REV therefore represents a paradigm shift, as it does not ignore these complex forms of income, but rather considers them an essential part of the blockchain economic ecosystem. This makes REV a more realistic and revealing indicator of monetary demand for block space that platforms offer to execute transactions and smart contracts.
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An illustrative example is how the importance of "Jito Tips" has grown on Solana. These tips are paid directly outside the main protocol, but they constitute a growing percentage of the total fees collected by validators, highlighting the previously invisible economic demand. For users, understanding the origin of REV means understanding that it's not just about static fees, but about the entire economic mechanics that motivate transaction inclusion, crucial to valuing modern blockchain ecosystems.
GO TO BIT2ME CARDHow does REV include fares and tips?
A key innovation of REV is the explicit integration of traditionally accounted fees and the additional tips that validators, or block leaders in the case of Solana, receive for prioritizing transactions. These tips are a form of direct compensation that incentivizes orderliness and speed of validation, and which for a long time remained outside of official revenue calculations.
In the case of Solana, REV groups together three essential types of income available to validators: base rates that are compulsorily paid to execute any transaction, priority rates incorporated into the protocol to promote rapid inclusion and, ultimately, the tips known as "Jito Tips" or tips outside the protocol that are paid to send transactions directly to the next block leader. These tips are crucial for capturing MEV, since validators can extract value by ordering transactions in their favor.
This volumetric and holistic approach captures the true monetary demand that users and applications are willing to pay to interact with the blockchain, overcoming the limitations of previous metrics that only included base fees. Thus, on Solana, for example, the proportion of tip income has increased rapidly, going from representing around 30% to more than 56% of total commissions in less than a year, showing a clear trend towards a fundamental change in the economic ecosystem of the network, according to the data from Oak Research.
TRADE WITH STABLECOINSThe impact of REV on Solana's valuation
The implementation of the REV model has a direct and profound impact on Solana's economic valuation. Traditionally, a blockchain's daily revenue was calculated based on official fees collected, but by including tips and other MEV-related revenues that REV accounts for, the reported amount increases substantially, providing a more accurate and complex view of Solana's actual economic activity.
According to recent data, Solana has reached daily revenue exceeding $4 million, its highest in months, a figure that combines fees and tips outside the protocol. Solana currently dominates the revenue distribution generated by blockchain applications on global platforms with over 70%, displacing traditional competitors such as Ethereum. On February 9, these ingresos exceeded $8 million dollars.
Therefore, REV has contributed to a significant increase in Solana's valuation, contrasting with traditional metrics that underestimated its actual revenue. This effect is not only an accounting issue, but also influences the network's attractiveness for institutional investment, project development, and mass adoption.
BUY SOLANA (SOL) ON BIT2MEIn October, technical analyst David Mustac shared a post emphasizing that REV provides a new perspective on how blockchains can capture and distribute value and that understanding this new value capture dynamic is essential to assessing the revenue generation potential and projecting the long-term viability and profitability of blockchain networks as the technology continues to develop.
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