- Ethereum saw major developer growth in 2025, adding 16,181 new contributors, totaling 31,869.
- Solana grew its developer base by 83% year-over-year, yet Ethereum remains nearly double in size.
- Ethereum struggles with developer retention despite strong growth, with a median salary far below industry averages.
In 2025, Ethereum has achieved amazing developer growth. The total number of new platform developers was 16,181 between January and September. This inflow puts the total number of active Ethereum developers at 31,869. Nevertheless, Solana has grown increasingly popular and is the most discussed ecosystem in the blockchain of today.
Source: Ethereum Foundation
The Ethereum Foundation indicated that it would become the top ecosystem within the next five years in terms of the number of developers. It has an almost two-fold development base compared to Solana, which has 17,708 developers. What is good with Ethereum is marvelous to Solana. There was an increase in the number of developers by 11,534, or 83.1%, compared to the previous year.
Source: Ethereum Foundation
Bitcoin’s Developer Surge: 7,494 New Developers Join in 2024
The third-largest cryptocurrency in terms of developer growth is Bitcoin, the biggest in terms of market capitalization. As of 2024, the platform had onboarded 7,494 new developers, making it 11,036 active contributors. Bitcoin holds a massive portion of blockchain, but its price remains lower than ETH and Solana, and developers are also fewer than the other two.
The total number of crypto developers declines by 7% in 2024, on average. At the same time, there has been the appearance of even more new practice developers at 70% of all contributions to the code. This shift indicates that the responsibility to contribute skillfully and for the long term has become more significant than ever, while the emphasis on short-term or entry-level involvement has diminished.
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The issue of ETH development funding is controversial. The median salary of a core developer is 140,000, which is way below the industry average of $359,000. Nonetheless, a great number of developers prefer to join the Ethereum world. Others rejected the offers of competing networks, up to a $700,000 offer, to stay in ETH.
Ethereum’s 42% Dominance in Blockchain Development Amid Asia’s Rise
Asia has surpassed North America in terms of developer activity, and India will contribute the highest number of developers by the year 2024. In the meantime, the developer activity of the United States has been gradually losing its share in the world market.
Growth in the number of developers at various blockchains appears to increase. According to a report published by Electric capital (2024), there are increasing numbers of developers working on different chains. Code on Multi-platform is currently at 1 in 3, developing less than 10% in 2015. Ether is at the forefront of this aspect with a 42% dominance of new codes to be inserted in a number of blockchains.
Ethereum leads, and ETH has a developer retention problem. The past year has seen almost 40% of the core Ethereum developers attracted by competing networks. So far, Protocol Guild has paid out over $33 million to developers since May 2022, and, nevertheless, Ethereum median annual compensation is $67,121, still below the industry average.
In Latin America, ETH is by far the player of choice. A study by Sherlock Communications found that more than 75% of blockchain activity in the region takes place from June 2024 to June 2025.
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