A recent research report by Electric Capital reveals significant shifts in the blockchain developer ecosystem. Despite the crypto industry’s emphasis on decentralization, the developer market is becoming more centralized, with fewer developers entering the space and experienced developers taking the lead.
The total number of active blockchain developers has dropped substantially. In November 2022, there were over 31,000, but by November 2024, this number decreased to 23,160, a 25% decline in two years.
Part – time developers and newcomers were particularly hard – hit. The number of part – time developers fell from 16,600 in November 2022 to 12,386 in November 2024, and the number of new developers dropped from 18,547 to 8,986, a decline of over half.
In contrast, the number of established developers (with two or more years of experience) grew by 65% from 6,903 to 11,400 during the same period. Andrew Morfill, CIO of Zodia Custody, attributes the decline in part – time and new developers to market volatility and the increasing complexity of the maturing market. He predicts that the current decline will likely reverse in the first half of 2025. Francesco Andreolí, head of the developer community at Consensys, points to the increasingly technical demands of blockchain projects as a factor.
Electric Capital’s “2024 Developer Report” analyzed 902 million code commits across 1.7 million repositories. It shows that established developers (in crypto for 2+ years) are at an all – time high, growing 27% year – over – year and contributing 70% of code commits. Although 39,148 new developers explored crypto in 2024, this growth is not enough to offset the losses.
Andreolí warns that this shift could centralize influence among a small group of contributors, leading to potential risks such as the homogenization of innovation. To mitigate these issues, he emphasizes the importance of cross – chain collaboration, open – source projects, and community – driven governance. Morfill sees the growing dominance of experienced developers as a sign of industry maturation but also acknowledges the challenges to decentralized development.
Blockchain development is a global phenomenon. Asia now leads in developer share, while North America has dropped to third place. The U.S. is still the top country for blockchain developers with 18.8% of the global share, a significant decline from 38% in 2015. India is emerging as a leader, onboarding the most new developers in 2024 (11.7% of the global share). Other countries with notable developer bases include the U.K., China, and Canada.
Developers are working on more blockchain ecosystems than ever. In 2015, fewer than 10% worked on multiple chains, but by 2024, one in three do. Ethereum remains the largest ecosystem for total developer activity, but Solana is attracting more new developers, growing its developer base by 83% in 2024. Bitcoin development remains stable, with 42% of developers focusing on scaling solutions.
Different blockchains attract developers based on specific use cases. Ethereum is a hub for decentralized finance, Solana dominates in decentralized exchange usage and low – fee NFT/meme coin minting, Coinbase’s Base is responsible for a significant portion of new code in the Ethereum ecosystem and NFT minting volume. Stablecoins and re – staking are also growing sectors.
The shift towards experienced developers indicates industry maturation but also raises concerns about centralization and reduced diversity. The 7% decline in total developers in 2024 reflects market challenges, including the impact of the FTX collapse. As developers are seen as a “leading indicator of value creation,” a decline in their participation could potentially hinder blockchain innovation in the long run.
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