Ether.fi achieved $126 million in card spending in Q4 2025, up 160% quarter over quarter. They're now the largest non-custodial crypto card, bigger than everyone else combined. But here's what else matters: they survived October 10th with zero liquidations while the majority of crypto traders were getting wrecked.
Mike Silagadze isn't building another DeFi casino. He's building crypto's own Revolut onchain—a fully integrated banking experience that's self-custodial, with lower fees and higher rewards than traditional fintech. The business model spans three pillars: Stake (liquid staking), Liquid (yield vaults), and Cash (the card product that's now 30%+ of revenue and diversifying them away from pure ETH exposure).
We dug into the numbers that matter. Ether.fi did $50M in revenue in 2025, up from $25M in 2024, and they were profitable both years. Mike's base case for 2026? $100M in revenue, with a bull case closer to $200M. Customer acquisition costs run $5-$200 per user, and the card business is already profitable on its own before you even count staking and vault revenue.
The conversation got especially interesting around tokenholder rights. Mike's thinking through how to enshrine value accrual so token holders have actual protections, not just promises. He's also scaling the team strategically: 38 employees today, maybe 50 by year-end, staying lean with AI tooling.
In our newest episode of The Edge Podcast, the third installment of our new Revenue Meta series, we sit down with the ether.fi CoFounder to break down the real numbers behind DeFi’s 7th largest protocol . We cover how Cash is now driving 30%+ of revenue and insulating the business from ETH price swings and what it takes to scale from DeFi's hundreds of thousands to millions of mainstream users. Plus, tokenized stocks and gold are coming this March!
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🔗 Guest Links 🔗
► ether.fi on X: x.com/ether_fi
► Mike Silagadze on X: x.com/mikesilagadze
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DISCLAIMER: Nothing written in The Edge Newsletter or said on The Edge Podcast is a recommendation to buy or sell tokens or securities. This content is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing shared here is financial advice. Any views expressed in our content are solely the opinion of that writer, host, or guest. Always do your own research. DeFi Dad, Nomatic, and guests may have positions in the assets or other matters discussed in this content. DeFi Dad was a seed investor in ether.fi.
