Average revenue per user (ARPU)

Overview

Average revenue per user (ARPU) measures the revenue generated per active user over a fixed 24-hour window. It is calculated as total daily revenue divided by active users (daily), and reflects how much the project is able to monetize an individual user on a daily basis.

Data sources

• Smart contract events capturing fee-generating user interactions (mints, redemptions, borrows, repayments, and transfers)
• Token price feeds for USD conversion of revenue and fee amounts
• Active users (daily) and Revenue metrics as upstream derived inputs

Common calculation approaches

Derived metric ratio

ARPU is computed by dividing total daily revenue by the count of active users (daily), both independently calculated from their respective upstream metrics. For protocols such as Spark, this division is applied after each component is separately aggregated, producing a daily monetization efficiency value. This approach is used broadly across lending platforms, liquid staking services, and cross-chain protocols.

Event-based user identification

Active users are counted from on-chain events that reflect fee-generating interactions. For lending protocols including ZeroLend and MakerDAO, users are identified through Borrow, Supply, Repay, and FlashLoan events, as well as function calls such as frob and drip. For stablecoin platforms like Ethena, users are identified from Mint and Redeem events emitted by minter contracts.

Multi-source revenue aggregation

Revenue is aggregated across multiple fee types before the ARPU ratio is applied. For yield protocols such as Solv, management fees, redemption fees, and subscription fees are captured from CreateSubscription and CreateRedemption events across multiple chains, then summed into a daily total. This combined revenue figure is divided by the active users (daily) count for the same period.

Note: The calculation approaches and protocol examples above are representative patterns. Individual protocol implementations may vary.