Data Snack: Crypto apps earn the most revenue per user, Cash App ranks third
- A recent study explored the revenue made by finance apps to find out how much, on average, each app is making per user.
- Results showed that crypto companies take the top two spots, followed by Cash App, which ranks third on the list.
In fintech, revenue is not driven by how many users you onboard but by how many people use your app to make transactions. Though average revenue per user (ARPU) may not indicate profitability, it is a good way to distinguish market leaders.
A study by Sortlist explored revenue made by finance apps to find out how much, on average, each app is making per user. The results showed that crypto companies take the top two spots, followed by Cash App, which ranks third on the list.
The image below shows the top finance apps making the most revenue per user:
Source: Sortlist
In first place is FTX Global, a cryptocurrency exchange, which rakes in an average of $850.83 per user. The FTX Global App allows users to buy, sell and trade cryptocurrencies. It operates several trading platforms globally and has a combined average daily trading volume of $10 billion.
FTX is registered in the Bahamas and is the brainchild of Sam Bankman-Fried. The company launched in 2019 and has amassed over $1.2 billion in revenue from a customer base of 1.2 million users. FTX US, its American subsidiary, operates in a limited capacity in the United States due to the lack of regulatory clarity in the country.
In second place is Binance, another multinational cryptocurrency exchange. Binance has a total revenue of $20 billion and makes about $689.66 per user from a customer base of over 29 million account holders. The company was created by Changpeng 'CZ' Zhao in 2017 and is registered in the Cayman Islands.
During the 2021 bull run, Binance was responsible for $7.7 trillion of cryptocurrency exchange volume. Like FTX, the lion's share of Binance’s trading volume occurs outside the United States. But, it does operate in a limited capacity in the country under its subsidiary, Binance US.
In third place is Cash App, a mobile payment service owned by Block, earning an average of $279.66 per user. Cash App allows users to transfer money to one another using a mobile app. It also supports Bitcoin transactions. As of 2021, Cash App generated over $12.3 billion in revenue, 81% of which came from Bitcoin transactions.
Although it operates in the United States and the United Kingdom, the company has over 44 million users. Cash App, formerly Square Cash, was launched in 2013 by Twitter icon Jack Dorsey with other co-founders.
Other notable players who made the top 10 list include Robinhood, Chime, and PayPal.
Robinhood, an investment app for the masses, comes in fourth place. It collects around $113.25 per user due to its highly criticized “payment-for-order-flow” strategy. Chime, America's most popular neobank, takes the 7th spot, making an average of $61.70 per user due to interchange fees. And finally, PayPal, a pioneer in digital payments, comes in 9th place, making an average of $59.52 per user due to what some may consider high transaction fees.
Interestingly, all the apps in the top 10 list have raced to make cryptocurrency services available to their customers, except for one – UK-based Starling Bank.
Source: Sortlist
The study methodology used data from Business of Apps' App Data to collect the latest download, usage, user, and demographic data statistics. Then it calculated the total revenue per single user by dividing the app’s overall revenue by its number of users.
The fintech app space is still expanding. According to Million Insights, the global finance app market will reach $2 billion by 2028. The market growth is the cause of the rising demand for tracking investment apps from customers in emerging economies.
Source: Million Insights