Electric Capital released its highly anticipated 2023 Annual Crypto Developer Report, shedding light on some significant shifts within the crypto development landscape. The report paints a nuanced picture, revealing a 24% decrease in the overall number of cryptocurrency developers. However, the dynamics within this space are far from monolithic.
Insights into Crypto Developer Trends
The report underscores the resilience of seasoned developers, with those boasting over two years of experience and contributing significantly to code experiencing steady growth. This segment of developers, often regarded as the most valuable contributors, continues to expand, showcasing a robust 52% annualized growth over the past five years.
A striking revelation from the report is the surge in support for developing multi-chain solutions, with 30% of developers expressing their backing—a tenfold increase from the meager 3% recorded in 2015. Furthermore, developers endorsing three or more chains have reached an all-time high, constituting 17% of the developer community in 2023.
The report delves into the global distribution of crypto developers, highlighting that a substantial 72% of them operate outside the confines of North America. The United States, once a dominant force in the crypto development space, has witnessed a decline, accounting for only 26% of the total developer share—a stark -14% decrease since 2018.
Contrastingly, regions such as South Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Africa, and Southern Europe collectively experienced a noteworthy +20% growth in developer share since 2018. This crypto development internationalization emphasizes the industry’s decentralized nature as developers increasingly contribute from diverse corners of the globe.
The Electric Capital report positions developers as pivotal indicators of value creation within the cryptocurrency space. The analysis draws on a staggering 485 million code commits from 818,000 repositories—an impressive 20-fold increase from the initial Developer Report in 2019. The collaborative effort behind the report has also seen remarkable growth, with 356 individuals contributing, marking a 25-fold increase since 2019.
While the overall decline in developer numbers is attributed to a surge in new developers joining the ecosystem in 2022, the report underscores that the losses are primarily driven by a high churn rate among these newcomers.
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