Electric Capital, a prominent cryptocurrency analytics firm, has released its Developer October Update, shedding light on the evolving landscape of crypto open-source development. As of October 1, 2023, the report states that monthly active open-source developers are 19,300.
This figure represents a 27% decrease compared to the same period in the previous year. However, when assessed in the context of the previous bear market, the number of developers has still seen a significant increase of 66%.
The report delves deeper into these statistics, revealing that newcomers primarily drove the decline in active developers in the past year to the crypto space. Newcomers, defined as developers with less than 12 months of experience in digital currency, were responsible for around 25% of all code commits. This trend aligns with the findings reported in July 2023 and has continued to persist.
Despite the recent decrease in developers, the report highlights that the overall developer count has risen by 66% since the last bear market three years ago. While developers increased by 66% compared to the previous bear market, there was a decrease of 27% from October 2022 and 4% from October 2021.
Exploring Causes: Fewer New Developers Enter Crypto in 2023
The report also explores the factors contributing to the decline in newcomers, citing a significant reduction in new developers entering the crypto space. In October 2023, only 1,721 new developers ventured into crypto, marking a 40% decrease since June 2023 and a substantial 64% and 67% drop compared to October 2022 and November 2021 market peaks, respectively.
As the data suggests, newcomers tend to dominate during bull markets but decrease during bear markets, a pattern observed in the crypto space in the past. The report emphasizes that while the number of monthly active developers has decreased overall, the remaining developers are vital contributors, accounting for most code commit contributions.
Electric Capital also identifies several crypto ecosystems that have seen substantial growth in active developers since October 2022. Notably, Aztec Protocol, Celestia, Ripple (XRP), TON, ZKSync, and Starknet have demonstrated positive year-over-year growth.
Additionally, Electric Capital has refreshed its Open Source Crypto Taxonomy to include more communities contributing to this taxonomy. Developers who wish to have their repositories represented are encouraged to reach out to Electric Capital.
The report provides a comprehensive overview of the changing dynamics within the crypto open-source development community, highlighting the impacts of market conditions and the resilience of seasoned developers.
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