Crypto Developer Numbers Decline, Experienced Developers Remain Active

According to Blockworks, the 2021 bull market led to an influx of new developers entering the crypto industry in 2022, but many did not survive the subsequent bear market. Electric Capital's latest annual report published on Tuesday revealed that the number of blockchain developers active for less than 12 months fell by 53% year over year. This is the main reason why total developer numbers have decreased by a quarter in the same period. However, there is positive news for the industry's technical expertise. Among the 22,411 monthly active crypto developers, those with experience are staying in the field in increasing numbers. Emerging and established developers, who have been working in crypto for more than a year, have increased by 15% since December 2022, continuing a steady upward trend. Bitcoin, the market cap leader, experienced a roughly 19% year-over-year drop and now has just over 1,000 monthly active developers. The 2023 Ordinals phenomenon, while contributing to network fee revenue, has had a relatively small impact on attracting new coding talent to the chain. Ethereum continues to lead in developer mindshare, with 2.7 times more dedicated new developers than runner-up Polygon. Solana, the comeback story of 2023, takes the fourth spot behind 'other,' with about 4,700 new developers. This year's survey shows a significant increase in developers supporting more than one chain, now over 30%, including Ethereum developers who also work on layer-2s. Some of the emerging Ethereum rollups, such as Base, Aztec, and Taiko, are among the chains growing the fastest year-over-year. There is also a clear shift in where developers are working from, with US-based developers steadily declining, although the trend lessened in 2023. The US is the only region whose share of developers has declined since 2018.