Ryan Rasmussen, a senior researcher at Bitwise Asset Management, has noted that Ethereum, the second-largest blockchain network, managed to generate more revenue than major public companies of the likes of Etsy, Yelp, and Reddit in the first quarter of 2021 . 

According to data provided by Coin98 Analytics, Ethereum achieved record transaction fee revenue of roughly $1.2 billion. This marked a 79% increase compared to the previous quarter. 

Ethereum's transaction fees recorded a significant uptick in March due to the major market rally that took place during that month. Bitcoin hit its current all-time high of $73,737 while the flagship altcoin also approached its all-time peak of $4,878 which was logged more than two years ago. 

Ether is likely to end the second quarter on a high note as well due to the approval of spot exchange-traded funds in the U.S. 

$22K by the end of the decade? 

American investment management firm VanEck recently predicted that the price of the leading altcoin could potentially reach a whopping $22,000 by the end of this decade. 

For Ether to achieve this pie-in-the-sky target, the network has to become cheaper and more efficient. 

Last year, VanEck predicted that Ethereum's revenue could potentially grow to $51 billion on an annual rate in 2030, which is its base case. Its bull case is $136 billion.  

The company counts transaction fees, including the tip fee, as a revenue line.

VanEck has also predicted that Ethereum could end up becoming a store-of-value asset, evolving beyond merely a transactional currency. This could potentially add “Security as a Service” (SaaS) as a new revenue item.