Electric Capital: ‘Solana Is the #1 Ecosystem for New Developers in 2024 and Grew 83% YoY’

As someone who has spent decades in the tech industry and witnessed the rise of the internet, I find the latest Electric Capital report on crypto developers particularly fascinating. The trends it highlights underscore a new wave of innovation that is not only transforming the financial sector but also reshaping global economics.

As a researcher delving into the dynamic world of cryptocurrency, I’ve recently found myself examining the findings presented in Electric Capital’s 2024 Crypto Developer Report. This comprehensive study was based on an analysis of 902 million code commits spanning across approximately 1.7 million repositories. The insights gleaned from this vast data set provide a clear picture of the industry’s path, shedding light on trends that are reshaping the landscape of cryptocurrency development.

In the perspective of Electric Capital, the backbone of value generation within cryptocurrency lies with developers. By constructing apps that provide user benefits, these developers spark a self-reinforcing mechanism – popular apps draw in users, and these users stimulate more developers to join the field. The report highlights this beneficial cycle as being particularly observable in crypto due to its open-source characteristics.

The report underscores a significant expansion of the cryptocurrency development community over the past few years. Specifically, it’s shown that the number of contributors has multiplied approximately 24 times since 2019, and an impressive 339 new developers joined the community in the year 2024.

Geographically speaking, the creation of cryptocurrency is more dispersed worldwide than ever before, according to recent reports. It appears that Asia has taken the lead as the continent with the most developer participation, pushing the U.S., which was previously at the top, down to third place. Despite this shift, the U.S. still holds the number one position for individual countries, with a 19% share of developers, although this percentage has decreased from 38% in 2015. It’s worth noting that India surpassed all other countries as the primary hub for new crypto developers in 2024, underscoring the increasing significance of the region within the ecosystem.

The Electric Capital report highlights a notable shift in the variety of crypto developers and their projects. By 2024, one third of all crypto developers were found to be working across various platforms, compared to less than 10% in 2015. Ethereum remains the main platform with the most global developer activity, while Solana has become a popular choice for new developers, experiencing a substantial year-over-year growth of 83%.

As a researcher delving into the vibrant world of blockchain, I find myself consistently impressed by the significant impact Base has made within the Ethereum ecosystem. It’s astounding to see that nearly half (42%) of the new code being written can be attributed to Base. When it comes to niche areas like low-cost NFT minting and transactions, both Solana and Base truly shine.

In the year 2024, developers who have been active in crypto for at least two years, as categorized by Electric Capital, hit a record high. They saw a growth rate of 27% compared to the previous year and were responsible for 70% of all code changes. This consistency suggests that the developer community is maturing, even though there was a slight decrease of 7% in the total number of developers.

User activity mirrors the global spread of development. According to the report, stablecoin transactions remain consistently active across all time zones, while NFT trading and minting peak during different regional work hours. These patterns reflect how varied use cases resonate with diverse user bases worldwide.

The Electric Capital report highlighted that stablecoins hit unprecedented levels, boasting a circulating supply of approximately $196 billion and daily transaction volume of around $81 billion. Furthermore, the report spotlights Layered Restaking Technologies (LRTs) as an innovative new field. spearheaded by EigenLayer, LRTs have injected more than $30 billion into Ethereum’s mainnet, boosting developer interest by 130%.

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2024-12-13 16:12