7 major crypto industry cash cows: With an annual profit of $14 billion, they are the ultimate tax collectors in the crypto world

Tether (USDT issuer) dominates the stablecoin market with a staggering $13.7 billion profit in 2024, achieved by a team of just 165 people, resulting in a labor efficiency of $83.03 million per person.
Pump.fun, a Meme coin launch platform, generated $337 million in revenue in 2024 with only 15 employees, translating to $22.48 million per person.
Binance, the largest crypto exchange, is estimated to have made $5 billion in profit with over 5,000 employees, yielding $1 million per person.
Coinbase, a leading U.S. exchange, reported $2.6 billion in net profit with 3,772 employees, averaging $689,000 per person.
Circle (USDC issuer) saw USDC circulation exceed $45 billion in 2024, with speculated profits of at least $500 million and a labor efficiency of $546,000 per person.
Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) reported a $464 million profit despite a net loss in Q4, with 1,534 employees ($302,000 per person).
Kraken, a veteran U.S. exchange, doubled its 2023 revenue to $1.5 billion, with $380 million in profit and 2,500 employees ($152,000 per person).

Key Insight: Stablecoins and exchanges remain the most profitable sectors in crypto, with fee-based models proving most sustainable. Pump.fun’s success highlights the Meme coin trend, but the core revenue driver remains transaction fees.

Original｜Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)

Author: Wenser (@wenser 2010)

In early February 2025, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino published a document announcing the "Tether 2024 Q4 Asset Proof", which mentioned: "Tether's full-year profit in 2024 is as high as 13.7 billion US dollars; the quarterly profit in Q4 2024 is 6 billion US dollars." After the news came out, it triggered heated discussions in the market. As the current dominant force in the stablecoin market, many people know that Tether's ability to attract money is extremely strong, but the annual profit of nearly 14 billion US dollars is still staggering. At the same time, according to Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan, the Tether team has only 165 people, and the human efficiency ratio has reached an astonishing 83.03 million US dollars per person, even far exceeding the investment giant Goldman Sachs (the latter has about 45,000 employees and a full-year profit of about 14 billion US dollars in 2024). It has to be said that compared with traditional industries, the human efficiency ratios of leading companies in the cryptocurrency industry are extremely impressive.

In view of this, Odaily Planet Daily will briefly review a number of crypto money-making machines in this article for readers' reference. (Note: Due to the high mobility of personnel in the crypto industry and different statistical calibers, the following data is only an incomplete statistics and is for reference only)

A review of the top 7 crypto money-making machines: Tether is well-deserved, and Coinbase is on the list

 List of crypto money-making machines

1. Tether (USDT issuer): 13.7 billion in profits, team of less than 200 people

The world's largest issuer of stablecoin USDT, which dominates the stablecoin market, supports the value of tokens by holding assets such as U.S. Treasury bonds, and has more than 400 million users.

Profit in 2024: $13.7 billion for the full year.
Number of employees: 165;
Labor efficiency ratio: approximately US$83.03 million per person.

2. pump.fun: Revenue exceeds $300 million in 2024

As the most eye-catching Meme coin launch platform in this cycle, Pump.fun is also one of the most profitable cryptocurrencies. According to on-chain analysts, pump.fun has earned about 1.703 million SOL from its launch to the end of 2024. Based on the average price of $198, the total profit is about $337 million.

In addition, Qiao, the founder of Alliance DAO, the investor behind pump.fun, previously revealed that the pump.fun team initially had only 3 people, and then gradually expanded to more than a dozen people. We calculated it based on the median of 15 people.

2024 profit: $337 million
Number of employees: 15;
Labor efficiency ratio: US$22.4796 million per person.

3. Binance: 250 million users and over 5,000 employees

The world's largest cryptocurrency exchange has more than 250 million users and its total spot and derivatives trading volume has exceeded the 100 trillion US dollar mark.

Profit in 2024: Not disclosed directly. Previously, $4 billion of operating assets were sold based on accounting processes . Community sources believe that the net profit in 2024 will be approximately $6-7 billion. Here we take the middle value and calculate it at $5 billion.
Number of employees: over 5,000 ( revealed by He Yi in a post ).
Labor efficiency ratio: US$1 million per person.

4.Coinbase: Full-year net profit of 2.6 billion, team of over 3,700 people

Founded in 2012, it is the leading cryptocurrency trading platform in the United States.

On April 14, 2021, Coinbase successfully landed on Nasdaq, becoming the world's first listed cryptocurrency exchange. According to Coinbase's 2024 Q4 financial report , in the fourth quarter of last year, Coinbase's revenue was US$954 million, achieving quarterly profits for the first time in two years. By the end of 2024, Coinbase had 3,772 full-time employees, a year-on-year increase of 10%.

2024 profit : $2.6 billion

Number of employees: 3,772;

Labor efficiency ratio: US$689,000 per person.

5. Circle (USDC issuer): Full-year profit unknown, total number of employees less than 1,000

As the issuer of the world's second largest stablecoin USDC, it focuses on compliance and institutional cooperation.

According to previous official news , the circulation volume of USDC in 2024 will exceed 45 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 78%. To date, more than 18 trillion US dollars of USDC transactions have been achieved; the number of users has exceeded 500 million.

Profit in 2024: Not disclosed directly yet. The monthly revenue in December 2024 was US$132.77 million. According to previous news, Circle's full-year revenue in 2022 was US$150 million, and its EBITDA in the first half of 2023 was US$219 million. It is speculated that the profit in 2024 will be at least US$500 million.
Number of employees: According to Bloomberg in June 2024, the total number of employees is approximately 915.
Labor efficiency ratio: US$546,000 per person.

6. Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy): Net profit less than 500 million, team size over 1,500 people

Earlier, according to The Block , Strategy (MicroStrategy)'s Bitcoin holdings nearly doubled in Q4 2024, with quarterly operating expenses reaching US$1.103 billion, a year-on-year increase of 693%, a net loss of US$670.8 million, and total revenue of US$120.7 million, about US$3 million lower than general expectations and 3% lower than last year.

2024 profit: $464 million (down 7% from 2023);
Number of employees: 1,534;
Labor efficiency ratio: US$302,000 per person.

7. Kraken: Profits of approximately $380 million in 2024, with approximately 2,500 employees

A veteran US exchange. On January 31 this year, the company's financial report showed that its revenue in 2024 was $1.5 billion. CEO Dave Ripley wrote that Kraken's revenue in 2024 was $1.5 billion, more than double its revenue in 2023; adjusted pre-tax profit reached $380 million. According to news in October last year, Kraken laid off 15% of its employees, affecting about 400 positions; according to Kraken's official channel news , its number of employees is about 2,500.

Profit in 2024: $380 million
Number of employees: 2,500;
Labor efficiency ratio: US$152,000 per person.

Summary: Stablecoins and exchanges are the best businesses, and handling fees are king

In summary, stablecoins and exchanges are the "best businesses" in the cryptocurrency industry. They are not only valuable, but also profitable. Pump.fun mainly relies on the Meme coin craze to reap profits, and the irrefutable truth of the cryptocurrency industry is still that: a business that cannot charge fees is not a good business.